


Shadow and Ice - Fight against Dragons

by Satsuriku



Series: Shadow and Ice [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Dai Matou Enbu | Grand Magic Games Arc, F/M, Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-09-26 08:18:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20386594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satsuriku/pseuds/Satsuriku
Summary: Kuraiko lived a happy life with her mentor Yuro Kuro, until a dark guild murdered him. She was able to flee and ended up in the city of Hargeon. A year after her arrival a ship of the Fairy Tail Guild ventures into the harbour and Kuraiko finds out that she hasn't lost all of her family. This is her beginning and how she finds her way in the world of Fairy Tail.





	1. Prologue - Past

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Schatten und Eis - Kampf gegen Drachen](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/512653) by Satsuriku Ashi. 

I have always lived with Yuro. He was a Shadow Make magician, meaning that he could create anything from the shadows and fight with it. I learned from him and he taught me everything he knew. As I asked him about my family, he told me the tale of Deliora, a vicious demon from the books of the powerful mage known as Zeref. Deliora was a violent monster that brought death and destruction to the northern continent. Not one city survived its attacks. Isbar was the city where I was born. I was just a year old when my parents gave me to Yuro, so that at least I would survive. He was an old friend of my father, Silver Fullbuster, and my mother, Mika Fullbuster. He also knew my older brother, Gray Fullbuster. But they all lost their lives to Deliora. Just after that, the monster was sealed away by an ice mage named Ur.  
I lived sixteen happy years with Yuro, until one day a dark guild showed up and he fought against them. He gave his life to defeat them and so that I could flee. I do not remember how long I ran, but after a few days I ended up in a city called Hargeon. The city was known for its harbour and that its inhabitants were more normal than actual magicians. There I found a place to stay and lived quietly for about a year. I was just taking a midday stroll through the city, when I noticed a ship with a guild's mark on its sails. The Fairy Tail Guild. The strongest in all of Fiore. That is at least what it was, if one could believe the rumors in the city. Apparently seven years ago, their guild master together with some of the strongest members went missing. Since then the guild itself had become nothing more than a laughing stock for the public. Now one of its ships sailed into the harbour and my interest was piqued. I was curious enough to slip closer to the ship and learn something from which I never thought that it was ever going to be possible.


	2. Long lost brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuraiko follows the returned Fairy Tail members to their guild hall and is confronted by the members shortly after their arrival at the rundown Guild Hall.

The harbour was once again overrun by merchants that either wanted to make a short pause from their journey or sell their cargo. I snuck past everyone and finally found the ship I was looking for. The ship with the Fairy Tail mark on its sails. It had just docked and the ramp was being let down to let the people on board go on land. I hid close behind some cargo boxes and watched. I wanted to know what a ship of the former strongest guild was doing here.  
Things started to get going. The first persons went down the ramp one by one. I saw a small man, white hair and mustache, who seemed to be quite old already. After him was a huge blonde guy with a lightning like scar over his right eye. Then came a blonde woman, a red-haired woman and a blue-haired girl together with a white and a blue cat. Red-head appeared extremely strong for a woman. After them came a guy with long black hair and a lot of piercings in his face. He swayed a little while walking as if he was not feeling too good. A black cat walked beside him. What was it with these cats? Lastly another black-haired guy came from the ship. His shirt was open, so that one could see his guild mark on the right side of his chest. He was carrying a pink-haired guy, who seemed extremely sea sick, over his right shoulder.  
"I swear, Natsu", the black-haired guy barked at pinky, "you are really pathetic." So pinky's name was Natsu.  
"Don't be so hard on him, Gray! You know he does not do good with moving objects", the blonde woman scolded. Hold on, did I hear that right? The black-haired guy's name was Gray? The same name as my brother. But that was impossible. Gray was dead, killed by Deliora sixteen years ago. I decided to keep an eye on him. He might just be another guy called Gray, but what are the chances? I wanted to know, who he was. Could it be that my brother survived the attack on Isbar?

Soon after their arrival at the port, the members of Fairy Tail took the train towards Magnolia. Which made sense, since their Guild Hall was located there, as far as I knew. I followed them until they arrived at a dilapidated building on the outskirts of Magnolia. I heard loud voices from within. It sounded like a fight. Natsu, who had regained his ability to stand and walk on his own, knocked the door down and everything went quiet. And then the tension was blown away by relief.  
"You are back!", someone yelled. So the people from the ship were the members that had been missing since seven years. I wanted to wait until they had calmed down and settled back in. But suddenly I felt a presence behind be. I spun around and discovered the guy with the long black hair and the piercings behind me. Up close he looked greatly intimidating. Next to him was an enourmous black panther-like cat. Was that the tiny cat that had walked beside the guy as he had swayed down the plank of the ship?! I jumped backwards and immediatly assumed a defencive position. I spotted a black Fairy Tail mark on his left shoulder.  
"Now who do we have here?", the guy inquired spitefully.  
"Someone who does not belong here", the black cat growled as answer. He could talk?! I grew only more anxious.  
"What is going on here?" I turned my head towards the voice and recognized the small old man from the ship. I could feel his magic power and instantly got even more nervous. Awesome, now I was in for something. Behind the man, Natsu, Gray, the blonde, the red-head, the blue-haired girl and the two other cats appeared. There was no getting out of here now. Intimidated I backed away. I did not want to fight, but I would defend myself.  
"We found this young girl snooping around the building", the black cat told the others.  
"Interesting", the small man replied and looked at me, which did not help my growing nervousness.  
"What are you doing here?", the red-head asked softly, even though she seemed so powerful.  
"I-I", stammered I and not able to talk more, I just shut my mouth again. The magic power around me was far to overwhelming.  
"I think we are intimidating her", the blue-haired girl said. Well aren't you a bright one.  
"Maybe you should talk with her, Wendy", the blonde suggested. So the blue-haired girl was named Wendy.  
"If you do not mind", Wendy wondered, while looking at the others. She seemed to be a lot friendlier than staple face.  
"No, we don't", Natsu told her. "But if she tries anything funny, call us directly." Okay, he was overly protective.  
"Will do", Wendy assured him and slowly made her way towards me. The others went back in the rundown guild hall. I saw Gray eyeing me quickly, before he followed the others. Wendy was now standing before me and even her magic power was still quite powerful. "Hey there", she said in a friendly tone. "My name is Wendy Marvell. What is your name, if I may ask?"  
"K-uraiko", I stammered back, still unsure what to do and how to act.  
"Kuraiko, pleased to meet you." I just nodded, because I was to anxious to open my mouth any further. I was never good with people and also preferred being alone or with as few people as possible. But the name Gray totally threw me off course. "What brings you to Magnolia?" Could I really tell her, why I came here? I thought about it and decided to start at the beginning. She was slowly but surely gaining my trust, because her magic power was not only powerful, but friendly at the same time.  
"I came here from Hargeon. I saw you guys go off that one ship and wanted to know more."  
"Ah okay", she said and inspected me quickly. "Are you a mage?" Again I only nodded. I just did not know what to say. But she simply flashed a bright smile at me. "What kind of magic do you use?"  
"Shadow Make Magic", I answered without thinking twice about it. It seemed as if Wendy had slowly gained my trust by now.  
"Cool! I use Sky Dragon Slayer Magic."  
"Dragon Slayer? So they actually exist?" I had heard about Dragon Slayers before, but I only knew of two, Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney. They were form the now strongest guild, Sabertooth. Wendy nodded, still smiling. She was a precious little girl and my nervousness was blown away. I felt that I could trust her. "There is another reason why I came to Magnolia."  
"And that would be?", she inquired softly, seemingly not wanting to lose the trust she had just gained.  
"A mage named Gray." Now she looked totally baffled.  
"Gray is one of the reasons why you came here?" Again I nodded. I was still not sure, but there was a possibility, no matter how small, that he was my older brother. "Should I go get him for you?"  
"Eh, if you stay with us?" And once again, my nervousness came back. If it wasn't him, then I had gotten my hopes up for nothing. But I would not give up that easily. That was one of the things Yuro taught me. Giving up is not an option.  
"If you want me to", Wendy smiled at me. "Quickly wait here." Then she was off to the building and disappeared inside. I did as I was told and did not move a muscle.

Soon after that Wendy came back with Gray trailing behind her. His face was so expressionless that I started questioning myself if this had been such a good idea. But now there was no going back  
They came up to me and halted infront of me with their eyes on me. I swallowed to moisturize my drying throat and looked up into Gray's dark blue eyes. "Gray, this is Kuraiko. She would like to talk to you", Wendy explained to him. I thanked her quietly that she had introduced me, because I was not able to.  
"I am all eyes and ears", Gray stated to tell me that I had his attention now. I pushed my nervousness into the back of my mind and thought of the first question I wanted to ask, which then came without hesitation.  
"Is your last name Fullbuster?" His face turned from expressionless to surprised. I just felt like I used a sledgehammer to crack a nut.  
"Eh, yes. But how do you know this?" Again I swallowed. Should I tell him that I had the same last name? Again I decided it would be best to start from the beginning.  
"I was raised by a shadow mage named Yuro. I was given to him by my parents for my own protection."  
"For your own protection?", he questioned confused. "From what?"  
"From Deliora." I could see the shock in his face, but did not criticize him for it. If he was my brother, then he had witnessed the power of that monster firsthand.  
"From Deliora", he repeated before eyed me curiously. "Who exactly are you?" It appeared as if he had an idea of who was standing infront of him.  
"My name is Kuraiko Fullbuster. Daughter of Silver and Mika Fullbuster and sister of Gray Fullbuster." The cat was out of the bag now. Wendy was totally startled. But Gray was emitted something completely else. Pure relief.  
"I can't believe it", he whispered. "You are alive." Tears started filling my sight. So he truly was what I had been looking for. My older brother. I sank to my knees and cried. Cried out of relief that it was him. Cried out of happiness that I had found him. Cried out of joy. Gray kneeled before me and pulled me into his arms. He pressed me gratefully against his chest and I was happy. I had found a part of my family. My long lost brother, Gray Fullbuster.


	3. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuraiko finally found her brother Gray. Though their reunion is not without interruptions.

Finally he released me from his embrace and looked at me with tears of joy in his eyes. He then turned to Wendy, who still appeared startled, and he simply smiled up at her.  
"Wendy, this is my younger sister, Kuraiko", he introduced me again, before laying his eyes on me again, "from whom I never thought that I would see her again." These words did not help with the tears. In fact, they only worsened them. I buried my face in my hands and quietly sobbed on. Too overwhelming was this moment of which I only dreamt these passed years. The moment that my brother would embrace me.  
"I am speechless", Wendy murmured. "But I am happy for you both." I looked up at her. She was smiling happily at Gray and me. Seemingly she was truly happy to see one of her comrades so lucky. Suddenly there was a loud bang. We looked over to the Guild Hall, from which now smoke emerced.  
"I swear, you metal freak are such a pest!", someone screamed.  
"Same goes for you, you fiery idiot!", someone else shouted back. I recognized both voices. First was Natsu, last was staple face. They appeared not to be very fond of one another. I heard a sigh from Gray.   
"Seems as if they are at it again", Wendy remarked while smiling amused.  
"And I am annoyed by it already", Gray growled beneath his breath. He then stood up and turned towards the Guild Hall. "Hey Flame-Eater! Trash-Compactor! Can you shut up for once in your life?!" What I already noticed, were the insults. Quite creative, if I may say so.  
I also got up and just as I did so, I saw how the other two attacked Gray. They started fighting and the 'teams' were always different. Once it was Gray and Natsu against the other, then it was Natsu and the other guy against Gray and so on. Wendy and I only stood next to them and watched silently.   
"Is this always like this between them?" I asked Wendy.  
"Yeah, but we others have already gotten used to this", she responded. "And there is always someone to stop them before it gets any worse." Exactly as she finished that sentence, the red-haired woman came dashing out of the building towards the three guys, grabbing Natsu and Gray by the collar, while standing on the face of the third guy.  
"How often do I have to tell you that you should not fight?!", she yelled at the guys. Now I know who Wendy meant.  
"Yes Ma'am", was the petrified answer from Natsu and Gray, while the other one mumbled some insult, which did not go unpunished. Red-head kicked him for that remark, while she let go of Natsu and Gray. Then she turned to Wendy and me and come towards us. Her magic power was enormous, but I tried to push back my returning nervousness.  
"Hello, my name is Erza", she said to me as she halted in front of me. "I apologize if these three disturbed you."  
"A-all good here", I replied. She was beautiful up close, but one could still feel who had say over the others.  
"What is your name, if I may?"  
"Kuraiko", I answered a bit more confident. Behind Erza, the guys were starting to get back up.  
"Nice to meet you", she said before turning to the three guys. "You have absolutely no manners. Fighting in front of two girls."  
"I was dragged into this, because I wanted to stop them from shouting", Gray defended himself and gestured to the other two.  
"Gajeel made me angry", Natsu sneered. Gajeel was the name of staple face.  
"That is no good reason for punching someone in the face", Gajeel growled back.  
"Will you shut up!", Erza thundered over their bickering. Just a tad intimidated I looked over at Gray. He glanced over to me and then walked towards me.  
"Sorry, but we are out", he stated while putting an arm around my shoulders and leading me away from the others.  
"Hey, where are you going with that girl, Frostbite?!", Natsu demanded.  
"We have some catching-up to do, Fire Freak", Gray responded and simply went on. Again those creative insults.

Soon after we left the others behind, we came to a cliff from which one could overlook all of Magnolia. It was a stunning city with many colourful houses that formed a protective ring around the mighty church in the middle. Gray and I just stood there and admired the city while the wind blew through our hair. Slowly my brain worked through everything that had happened until now. Especially the reunion with my brother.  
"How have you been doing these past years?", Gray asked and was the first to break the silence between us.  
"Well, I lived with my teacher Yuro until about a year ago. A dark guild then came out of nowhere and he fought against them. I could flee, thanks to him, but he lost his life in that fight."  
"I am sorry to hear that."  
"Mhm. I then came to Hargeon, where I lived until now. Then today your ship sailed into the harbour. I was curious, since Fairy Tail had once been the strongest guild in the whole country, and so I hid myself close to the ship. I watched you go off the ship and there I heard your name."  
"And that made you follow us to Magnolia."  
"Yes. Yuro had told me about you and our parents. He was an old friend of the family, which is why I was given to him.  
"Yuro. Yes, that name rings a bell. He was a Shadow mage, if I recall correctly."  
"Exactly. I learned everything from him and now also use Shadow magic." Gray looked surprised at me.  
"Seriously?" I nodded, stretched a hand away from me and let shadows dance on my flat hand. "So you also use magic."  
"You obviously too, otherwise you would not be part of a magic guild." He nodded, followed suit and let small ice crystals grow on this hand.  
"I use Ice magic." I was fascinated by the crystals.  
"Who taught you?"  
"Ur." I perked up. Ur was the Ice mage that sealed Deliora. "She took me in after Deliora destroyed all of Isbar."  
"So you were actually there." He nodded again and I instantly felt a stab in my chest. It hurt. He seemed so downcast. But it was comprehensible. He had witnessed the death of our parents and the people of Isbar. "It has to be painful to talk about this."  
"It does, I will not deny that. But you don't know anything about your roots, which is why I would like to tell you."  
"I would like to know more about Silver and Mika."  
"Our parents?"  
"Yes. I did not know them, but I would like to know more about them. I don't even know how they looked." My eyes shifted to the ground. It was shameful, but there was nothing to revert that fact. Gray then tipped my shoulder and I looked up at him. On his hand stood two figures made of ice, a man and a woman.  
"This is how our parents looked. Even though with a bit more colour." I had to smile, but his magic was incredible. He could make awesome things from ice. The figures looked so realistic, it wouldn't have surprised me if they would have started moving. And again my eyes filled with tears. We only met an hour or so ago and the already treated me as if he knew me his entire life.  
"I am so glad that I found you, Gray", I sniffled while the tears flowed down my face.  
"Believe me, we both are", he said softly and pulled me into another embrace. Being close to him and feeling his magic was calming. But I think that is how big brothers are supposed to be. I leaned against him and closed my eyes.  
"Yuro often told me about you. How you were a little rascal as you were younger."  
"I am one to this day."  
"I noticed, with Natsu and Gajeel"  
"Well, they are just nerve-wrecking idiots."  
"That bad?", I inquired.  
"Worse, but I think there are worse people than those two." I suddenly felt furious magic close to us. After I opened my eyes, I surveyed the surroundings. "What's wrong?", Gray asked."  
"Someone here is extremely angry", I murmured as response. Gray sighed heavily.  
"That can only mean one person." I looked up at him puzzled. He looked around. "Juvia! Come on out! We know that you are here!" And indeed. A bush starting moving and a blue-haired woman came into sight. She had an enraged look on her face.  
"Who is that girl?", she hissed at me.  
"This is Kuraiko. Kuraiko, that is Juvia, a member of Fairy Tail." He leaned in and whispered in my ear. "And she is crazily in love with me." I could not hold my grinning back. That was just to cute to be true. Now I understood why she was so pissed. I let go of my brother, turned to Juvia and smirked at her challingingly.  
"Now then, I will have to defend my position", I said grinning in Juvia's direction and immediatly the furious magic amplified around us. "You should watch out, Gray. I think, she will attack now." Said and done. She almost instantly attacked.  
"Water Slicer!", Juvia called and water formed like blades came fast and directly towards me. I just stood there. The water hit me, but it did not cut me. It went through my body like a knife through butter. Juvia looked at me confused.  
"Sorry, but you will not be able to injure me." I noticed before that her body as well was not really normal. "And your body is completely made of water. It is quite useless to fight, if none of us can be injured."  
"I must say, I am surprised", Juvia said. "But may I ask in what relationship you are with my dear darling Gray?" I looked over at Gray, who nodded in my direction.  
"I am his younger sister", I told her. Her face was just the cherry on top. She was totally shocked and surprised, even more than Wendy had been. I simply smiled innocently. Gray walked up to me and halted next to me and now one could see the similarities.  
"Then I guess I owe you an apology for my behaviour", Juvia mumbled shamefaced. This had to be a very stupid situation for her.  
"Don't worry. I think I would not have reacted in any other way if my crush was with another woman I don't know", I smirked and her face instantly turned into a tomato. Gray was watching us with a small smile on his face. I got the idea that this was not a one-sided crush. They liked each other, but Gray did not want to show it. Typical guy, I thought to myself.  
"I will leave you alone again", she muttered and disappeared between the bushes.  
"Cute girl you have there", I grinned at Gray.  
"Well, I would not call her 'cute'", Gray responded while seeming self-pitying.  
"You look like it has been raining for seven days straight."  
"That is a more acurate comparison to her, just withouth the seven days."  
"What?"  
"Juvia is a Water mage, as you have seen. Before she joined Fairy Tail, she was a member of a guild named Phantom Lord. We had a little war with them, in which I met her and I fought against her. She had a problem at that time that the rain would follow her everywhere she went. Since our fight, that rain has never showed up again."  
"Cute!", I squeeked.  
"Excuse me?", he questionned and looked at me confused.  
"Well, if you say, that since your fight that rain has never shown up, it could only mean that she was sad before she met you. It is really sweet if you think about it."  
"Now that you mention it, you could be right", he smiled. I decided that I would bring those two lovebirds together. I would play Amor between them. Could become quite interesting and funny. But now I would first get to know my brother and what he has been up to these past years.


	4. Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuraiko and Gray make their way to Gray's home and begin to talk about their backstories.

For a while we stayed at the cliff, watching the sun vanish behind the horizon. On our way back we stopped at the Guild Hall, where the return of the missed members was celebrated. Gray wanted to say good night to some people and then we were off into the city.  
After a short walk we arrived at a small house with gray walls and a dark roof. This was Gray's house, because as he halted in front of the door, he pulled out a key, slid it into the lock and opened the wooden door, so that we could enter. Immediately I had the smell of dust in my nose. No wonder, since he had been missing for seven years.  
He lit a light lacrima, which flooded the room with a bluish light. Everything was quite neat, except for some clothes that were lying around. A fireplace with a carpet, a table and a couch in front of it to the right and a dining table with some chairs next to a kitchen to the left. Straight ahead two doors led to what I believed to be a bathroom and Gray's bedroom. All in all, a very nice home.  
"Pretty here", I commented, while I wandered further into the small house, discovering a desk with some letters and pictures, which stood at the left wall.  
"Thanks. You have to excuse the clothes here and there. Old habit of mine, which I can not get rid of", he said as he ventured toward the fireplace and started a fire.  
"Old habit of yours?", I inquired. He turned to me and smiled sheepishly.  
"When I trained with Ur, she used to make my peer Lyon and me take off our clothes in ice and snow. Since then I unconsciously take off my clothes. Lets say the others are not very fond of it." I could not help it and burst out into laughter.  
"Excuse me", I panted, after I somewhat got my breath back again, "but the thought of that is just too precious." Gray smiled at me.  
"All good", he said, as he dusted off the couch and let himself sink onto it. I went toward the desk and looked at the pictures. There was one, where he was together with Natsu, Erza, the blonde woman and the blue cat.  
"Tell me, what is it with these three cats?", I asked as I looked at more of the pictures.  
"Well, actually they are not cats, but exceeds. The blue one is Happy and belongs to the fire freak. Charle is the white one and belongs to Wendy. Then there is Pantherlily and he belongs to the trash compactor", Gray answered. As he mentioned these nicknames for Natsu and Gajeel, I instantly got the next question to ask.  
"And where did you get the nicknames for the two guys?"  
"Natsu is a Fire Dragon Slayer and Gajeel is a Iron Dragon Slayer. With Wendy, we have three real first generation Dragon Slayers in our guild. And since they can eat their respective element, that is where the nicknames come from." Impressed I looked over at Gray  
"Three?"  
"Well, If you count Laxus as well, it's four, but he is not a real first generation. His father implanted a lacrima into his body that allows him to use Lightning Dragon Slayer magic." With that, they probably were stronger than Sabertooth.  
"Interesting", I mumbled and looked back at the pictures.  
"What are you checking out over there", I heard Gray asking.  
"Just some pictures here on your desk." He stood up and came over to also look at the pictures. "I now already got to know Natsu, Wendy, Erza, Juvia and Gajeel. Who is the blonde?", I questionned, gesturing at her on the picture I was looking.  
"That is Lucy. She came to us as a runaway. Her father wanted her back at home, which was why Phantom attacked us back then."  
"Oh, so her father is someone with influence, huh?"  
"He was. His whole fortune and his company were both taken over by someone else shortly after the war with Phantom." Yuro was usually never interested in things like that, but that had somehow caught his interest, which was why he researched. Heartfilia Railways was the company. So Lucy was obviously the daughter of the former head of the company.  
"Ah okay. Who is Laxus actually?"  
"You should have seen him in Hargeon. He is a blond guy with a lightning shaped scar over his right eye."  
"That is Laxus? I heard some stories about him and his team, the Thunder Legion. In a group of four they managed to defeat an entire dark guild called Ghoul Spirit."  
"Yeah, they are pretty strong." Gray walked over to the kitchen, to get himself a water. He brought me one as well and we placed ourselves on the couch again.  
"We can talk like this the whole night through. I would like to know more about you and what you did in all those years."  
"Same here. I would also like to know more about Yuro. I sadly can't remember him that well."  
"Yuro was a Shadow Make mage with dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He was rather quiet, but he often told me things about my family. He also told me about the attack on Isbar, as I grew older. He also did not hide the fact that I wasn't his daughter. As I was old enough to understand what he meant, he told me then that I was the daughter of a man named Silver and a woman named Mika. He also told me things about you, my older brother Gray. I always listened carefully to his stories. After a while he got a message that said that Deliora was sealed away by an Ice Make mage named Ur. After that everything got quieter. The Oración Seis had their fight with the alliance of light guilds, but that did not interest us very much. I lived sixteen years with him, until, as said before, he fought against that dark guild and lost his life during the fight."  
"Huh, sounds as if you were living the quiet life all those years."  
"Yes. Yuro was a good man and an extraordinary teacher. Since we are on the subject of teachers, would you mind if you told me a bit about Ur?"  
"Ur was an Ice Make mage with short black hair and dark eyes. She and her pupil Lyon found me in the ruins of Isbar. Deliora was long gone. She took me in and started training me alongside Lyon. One day we were on the way back home, as I heard some men talk about Deliora. They said that is was sighted in Brago. On that same evening I was on my way to get my revenge. I wanted to get pay back on that monster for killing my family. Ur and Lyon tried to stop me, but I ignored their warnings. I did not stand a chance against Deliora. It was simply too strong. In the end I lay unconscious on the floor. As I woke back up, Deliora was still busy destroying the city. Ur and Lyon had come to my rescue and had fought against that monster. But they also could not do anything. Ur saw only one way to end Deliora and used a spell called Iced Shell. This spell uses the body of the caster to form the barrier."  
"So Ur sealed Deliora with that spell?", I asked shocked. Gray nodded.  
"She gave everything to seal away Deliora", he whispered and rested his forehead on his hands. I saw that is was straining for him to talk about his teacher, which was why I placed a hand on this shoulder to show him I was there for him. He looked up at me.  
"You know, Yuro used a similar spell to defeat that dark guild." His face lit up a bit with curiosity.  
"With a similar one?" I nodded.  
"Shadow Make magic harbours a spelled called Complete Darkness. It is almost the same thing as Iced Shell. It uses the body of the caster to create a barrier that seals the person or creature it is cast on", I told him.  
"Interesting", Gray thought loudly. "I would like to know more about your magic as well."  
"There is not much to tell, because our magic types are almost identical to one another, if not completely the same. I can create almost anything from the shadows, same as you from ice. The only difference is that mine can move", I explained.  
"Ah okay", he said, taking a sip of his water. "I still can not really grasp it. I am gone for seven years and then I return only to learn my younger sister is still alive and a mage and she uses the same magic type as I do."  
"I get what you mean. It is all to good to be true. But it is true", I promised him and placed my head on his shoulder. "I am here and I will be here tomorrow. I can assure you, you will not get rid of me that easily", I smirked up at him. He grinned back.  
"I hope so", he said. We sat there for quite some time and talked about everything. He told me everything that had happened. How he came to Fairy Tail and got to know Natsu, Erza and everyone else. Natsu's 'dragon egg' from which Happy hatched. Lucy and how she joined Fairy Tail. How Natsu, Lucy and Happy stole an S-Class quest and how he had to get them back to the guild, but then ran into Lyon, who had set his mind on reviving Deliora to prove that he was stronger than Ur. The war against Phantom Lord, which Fairy Tail won. Lokis history with Karin from Blue Pegasus and his true identity as leader of the twelve zodiac, Leo. The fight with Jellal, a childhood friend of Erzas, in the Tower of Heaven. Laxus failed attempt at taking over the guild by force. The alliance with Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter against the Oración Seis, where he met up with Lyon and got to know Wendy and Charle. About the parallel world Edolas and the fight against the king of Edolas, up until the day on Tenrou Island, Fairy Tail's sacred ground, where they fought against the dark guild Grimoire Heart, who had set their sights on the dark mage Zeref, who was on that island. Acnologia's attack and how they were sealed away for seven years on Tenrou Island.  
I became aware of how much he had experienced out here. I could not keep up with that. I had lived and trained with Yuro until his death about a year ago. I only then got into contact with the world outside the Worth Wood Sea. But I recognized from Gray's stories that there was a lot to see and experience. And I would not let that slip through my fingers.  
Soon after that we decided to go to bed. Gray brought me a cushion and a blanket, so that I could sleep on the couch. He had offered to sleep there himself, but I had refused.  
While he showered, I prepared the couch. After he was done in the bathroom, I showered myself and made myself ready for bed.  
We said good night to each other and Gray disappeared into his room, while I made myself comfortable on the couch. The fire was still burning and I placed a small barrier over the fireplace, so that it still let warmth simmer through and keep the fire under control.  
I lay awake for a short while and thought about everything that had happened today. I had found my brother, got to know some of the members of the Fairy Tail guild and now I was in the house of my brother. It all went so fast. And with those thoughts I slipped into a tight sleep.


	5. Fairy Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuraiko and Gray leave his house towards Fairy Tail, because he has nothing at home to make breakfast with.

I woke up the next day and first checked my surroundings. I was still in Gray's house with the flickering fire next to me. So I did not only dream about what happened yesterday. Everything had been real. I heard a door being opened and through one of the two at the back a sleepy Gray stepped out.  
"Good morning", he mumbled. "So I did not only dream about meeting you." We really were family.  
"Good morning", I greeted him back. "Seems to be so, but we both thought the same thing." We smiled at each other.  
"I think, we will have to eat breakfast in the guild, because I do not have anything except water", he told me, while retreating back into his bedroom to get changed.  
"Okay", I said and got up. With the shadow, I created the barrier for the fire last night, I extinguished the already dying flame. Gray came back out of his room, when he threw a shirt and a jeans in my direction.  
"You can wear those. I think they should fit you", he said and disappeared into the bathroom. I shouted a "Thank you" after him and looked at the things. A short-sleeve dark blue shirt and a almost black three-quarter jeans. They both smelled quite fresh. I put both on and they actually fitted relatively well. Shortly after I had changed and tied my shoe laces, my brother emerged from the bathroom and smiled as he spotted me dressed in the things he gave to me. "Looks really good on you", he commented.  
"Thanks", I responded.  
"You can quickly get ready and then we will be off to the guild. I am curious, how it will look."  
"Well, if I think of yesterday, what I heard in there, I would not be surprised, if they are still not done partying", I said and went into the bathroom. With a hair brush made out of shadows I combed my hair, then washed my face, brushed my teeth with a toothbrush that Gray had lended to me, and then returned to him. He was standing at the door and waited patiently.  
"Ready to meet those rascals?", Gray asked.  
"You are one of those rascals", I reminded him and took my leather jacket that Yuro had given me from the couch.  
"Oh yeah", he sighed and we left the house. Like yesterday, we walked through the city, until we reached the border of it and now headed towards the guildhall of Fairy Tail.  
Once again, a slight nervousness overcame me, as we got closer to the run down building and I felt the mighty magic power from everyone. They truly were a strong guild.  
"Are you alright?" I looked up at Gray. He was looking at me worriedly and only now I noticed that I was shaking a little.  
"I am just a bit nervous", I admitted. "Everyone is so strong in Fairy Tail."  
"Yeah, they are. But you don't have to be nervous", he comforted me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We are strong, but we also have a sense for family." His smile, that he shot at me after that sentence, calmed me directly and I smiled back. I then placed my hand on his.  
"Thank you", I said and then we were standing in front of the door. I could hear loud voices and the clinking of glasses from inside the building. They had probably partied through the night. Gray put a hand on the door knob and looked at me.  
"Ready?" I took a deep breath and nodded determined. He nodded quickly and then opened the entrance. And directly, a glas flew past our heads. Inside the building, Natsu and Gajeel were fighting one another. But as we entered, all eyes locked on us.  
Again the nervousness washed over me. But Gray calmed me immediately, when he placed his hand on my shoulder once again. Now the two fighters realized that they weren't the main attraction and turned their already slightly bleeding faces towards Gray and me.  
"Morning frost bite", Natsu grinned at Gray.  
"Morning fire freak", Gray returned the greeting and walked with me through the hall. It was quite big inside, even though the building looked scrawny from outside. Some round tables with chairs stood here and there and in the back left corner, there was a bar, behind which a staircase led into the second level. On the right wall, the request board was hung up, where the requests for a guild were put up. But this one was very empty. We walked passed everyone, while they followed us with their eyes. Close to the staircase at a table, I spotted Wendy, the white and blue cat, Erza and Lucy. First stood up and walked over while smiling widly.  
"Good morning Kuraiko", she greeted me.  
"Good morning Wendy", I replied and smiled back at her. I already had a soft spot for the small Dragon Slayer.  
"Good morning", Erza greeted as well.  
"Hey Gray, can you introduce your friend to us?", Gajeel asked, while already being seating at the bar next to the black cat. Immediately I felt the angry magic from yesterday and found Juvia to the right of my peripheral vision. I had to hold back a grin.  
"May I?", I heard Gray asking me.  
"Sure." I could have been mean and could have added a 'honey' at the back, but I did not want to make enemies from day one.  
"Guys, this is Kuraiko", he said. "And before any misunderstandings come up, she is my younger sister." With misunderstandings, he probably meant an angry and at the same time sad Juvia. Everyone checked me out curiosly and seemed to compare me to Gray, to see if that was possible.  
"Your sister?", Natsu asked surprised , who now stood directly in front of me, and inspected me closely.  
"Yes, charcoal brain", Gray answered. Again these insults. I smiled slightly at him.  
"Seems to be correct. You both smell similar", Natsu said and grinned friendly. Questioningly I looked up at Gray.  
"Dragon Slayers have a keen nose", he explained to me, after he faced me. Then why did Wendy not smell the similar scent between Gray and me? Maybe her nose was not as good as Natsu's.  
"Ah." I looked at Natsu, who was still grinning at me. I had actually forgotten that Slayer mages at good noses.  
"Well then, welcome to the family", he exclaimed while widening his arms. I quickly shot a glance around and noticed that everyone had friendly faces, except for Juvia. She still seemed a bit jealous.  
"Thanks", I said to Natsu, as I looked back at him. He was still smiling widely.  
"Your sister, huh?" I turned my face in the direction, from which the voice had come and spotted the small man from yesterday at the bottom of the staircase. He was regarding me, exactly as the others had done it before.  
"Oh, morning gramps. Yeah, my younger sister Kuraiko Fullbuster", Gray told him. I felt his immense magic power and moved inconspicuously, so that Juvia would not kill me, towards my brother. This magic power really intimidated me. He came towards me and halted in front of me. We looked at each other for a while. The whole guild was dead quiet. Then he started smiling.  
"Then I welcome you, Kuraiko", he said in a friendly voice and in that exact moment, as if they had waited for it, the whole guild started cheering. I flinched at the noise, but then started smiling as well. They really were more like a family than just a gathering of mages. Gray was smiling as well and we moved towards the table, where Wendy had been seated before and sat down with the others there. Wendy and Natsu joined as well.  
"Pleased to meet you, Kuraiko", Lucy said smiling, after we had taken a seat. "I am Lucy."  
"Glad to meet you too, Lucy", I replied.  
"I will get us something to eat", Gray told me and went over to the bar. Meanwhile everyone in the guild had returned to their conversations.  
"We already know each other", Erza said with a smile. Yes, everyone had a smile on their face. Probably because of the returned members. I nodded in Erza's direction and looked over to the two cats, who sat on the table close to Wendy and Lucy.  
"Hi, I am Happy", the blue tomcat said.  
"And I am Charle. Pleased to meet you too, Kuraiko"; said the white cat. Everyone was very friendly as well and I already was feeling more relaxed.  
"Why did we only meet you today?", Natsu asked and was still looking at me with curiosity.  
"I was given to a shadow mage when I was one year old and lived with him until one year ago", I answered.  
"A shadow mage? Do you also wield magic?", Lucy asked.  
"Yes, Shadow Make magic."  
"Interesting. So, you basically use the same magic as Gray", Erza concluded and I nodded.  
"At least not another frost bite", Natsu thought aloud, slightly relieved. This sentence got him a smack from Gray, who had appeared behind him.  
"Watch it, you brainless fire-eater", Gray warned him and then offered me one of the sandwiches, he had brought with him. "Here you go."  
"Thanks", I replied, took the bread and took a bite. It was absolutly delicious. Still warm, with cheese and harm. Just the way I liked it. And Gray as well, since he had gotten himself the same and ate it with visible delight, after he had taken a seat next to me. The sight made me smile.  
"What?", Gray asked as he discovered my facial expression.  
"I just noticed that we both have the same taste", I answered and pointed at the sandwiches. He looked at them briefly and then smiled as well.  
"So I thought correctly that you like cheese and ham", he said.  
"Yeah", I said. We ate our sandwiches, while Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Charle, Happy and Natsu were talking next to us.  
When we had finished eating, we joined in on the conversations and I noticed that everyone also treated each other like family members. The others asked about my past and I told them without thinking twice about it, because I felt that I could trust everyone in here. Even Juvia and piercing face.  
I learned most names, for example from the small man, who was named Makorav, but everyone just lovingly called him gramps. All in all, it was a warm-hearted guild.  
"Tell me, Kuraiko", Erza said to me suddenly, "have you ever thought about joining a guild?" That question came a bit unexpected, but I could not deny that I had already thought about it.  
"Well, I have already had that thought of joining one. But I was still wary, since I not had been outside of the Worth Woodsea for very long and did not want to decide immediately", I admitted. Erza nodded in agreement.  
"It is hard to choose one guild, when there are so many in Fiore", she said. As far as I knew, there were over fifty legal guilds in the country. The strongest were Sabertooth, Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus. But Fairy Tail was a family and therefor the rank in the list of guilds did not count.  
"You could join Fairy Tail", Lucy suggested. "Your brother is in this guild." That was a plus for Fairy Tail.  
"That would be really cool", Natsu said smiling. I looked over at Gray. He considered me with a happy and at the same tame understanding expression.  
"I can understand if you still want some time", he then said, "but it would be really cool, to have you on board here in Fairy Tail." I shifted my gaze onto the table and thought about it. In a very short time, I had found my brother and taken many here in Fairy Tail to the heart. Apart from that, it was a possibilty to stay with my brother. So nothing spoke against joining.  
"I had long enough", I said and looked up at Gray. "I would like to become a member of Fairy Tail." All smiled broadly at me, but my brother was literally beaming and immediately embraced me. I returned the gesture and saw Natsu in my peripheral vision, hopping towards the bar and returning shortly thereafter with a white-haired woman, you had tied her fringe up.  
"Hello, I am Mirajane", she introduced herself smiling. "Natsu told me that you would like to join Fairy Tail?"  
"Yes", I confirmed and noticed Gray's smile. He was happy that I would soon be part of his guild.  
"Where would you like to have your guild mark?" Mirajane asked and held up a stamp of sorts, on which the guild mark was visible. I thought about it quickly, turned around and tipped on my right shoulder blade.  
"Here, if that is fine", I replied.  
"Sure. What colour?"  
"Dark blue." Said and done. Mirajane adjusted the colour and then pressed the stamp on my shoulder blade. As she took it off, my guild mark shone in a beautiful midnight blue colour.  
"There, now you are an official member of Fairy Tail", she told me and smiled at me friendly. Natsu and Happy cheered, Erza, Lucy, Wendy and Charle smiled happily at me and Gray? He was beaming with joy. I turned towards him and was immediately embraced by my brother.  
"Welcome to the guild", he mumbled in my ear and I could feel his proud smile.  
"Thank you", I mumbled back and returned the embrace. This must have been the happiest day in my entire life. I had not only dreamed about finding my brother. I was immediately included into the guild family. I was now a member of Fairy Tail. And I hoped that would experience many adventures with my new family.


	6. The Dark Guild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuraiko and the others are training for the Grand Magic Games, when they receive a weird message.

The Grand Magic Games were practically around the corner. They had three months until the Games, but the people who had been sealed on Tenrou Island had a lot of catching up to do. I had joined Gray, Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Charle, Happy, Levy, Jet and Droy at their training site.  
Five days before the Games, we received an ominous message via dove. We should come to a bridge deep in the western forests. Following the message, we came to a broken bridge, which instantly repaired itself with magic. We crossed it and then they stood before of us.  
"Thanks for coming, Fairy Tail," a male voice said. We had come across three people with capes. I shuddered when I heard the voice. And was shocked when the three people took off their hoods. In front of us stood the guild responsible for the death of Yuro. Crime Sorcière. Jellal Fernandes, Ultear Milkovich and Meredy. But why were they alive? The spell, Yuro had cast, should have taken their lives. Trembling, I fell to my knees.  
"Kuraiko? What's wrong? "Gray asked me worried as he knelt next to me. However, I just looked in shock at the three mages.  
"Why are you still alive?" I mumbled my question. Everyone looked at me a little horrified. Only these three seemed to know what I was talking about, because they all looked away. "Why are you still alive?" I repeated more forcefully.  
"You know them?", Erza asked me.  
"I would not call it 'know', but I would never forget their faces," I replied. "This is the dark guild responsible for the death of my teacher. However, the spell he had cast should have killed them. So, why are you still breathing?" My voice had become a screaming sound at the end. Gray finally helped me up, but I was unable to stand because of the trembling, so he supported me.  
"They're still breathing because I did not kill them", another man behind us said. But I did not have to look around to see who it was. Nevertheless, I turned my eyes to the person and my initial shock intensified. It was Yuro. Healthy and alive, with the same cloak the other three wore around his shoulders. His dark brown hair had grown a little longer, but his brown eyes remained clear. He looked a bit older, but it was still him.  
"Yuro," I breathed. Everyone looked at him. The surprise, however, I only felt with Fairy Tail, not with Crime Sorcière.  
"I am sorry, Kuraiko, that I had to fake my death, but otherwise I could not have let go of you and keep you from looking for me. I hope you can forgive me someday." He walked past us and joined the other three.  
"So that's your student you had to leave behind?", asked the raven-haired Ultear. With a nod, he answered the question.  
"That is your teacher?" Gray asked me muttering and I nodded in confirmation. I could not believe it. For a year, I thought Yuro would be gone forever. But now he stood in good health before me and had joined the guild that should have been responsible for his death. It was all too much and I passed out in shock and horror.

A little later, I came to again. I was in my hotel room, which meant that the others had brought me here. When I sat up, I saw a silhouette in the right corner of my eye and when I looked at the person, I recognized Yuro. So I did not just imagine it. He stood in front of the balcony door and looked out, but when he noticed me being awake, he looked at me. There was deep regret in his eyes. Tears flodded my eyes.  
"Why?", I mumbled.  
"Jellal, Ultear and Meredy had recruited me to join their guild. They had known me for a while and knew that I had also suffered from Zeref's dark legend." Zeref had been a very powerful and dark mage, who had created many monsters called the Etherious. He was still alive, according to the people from Tenrou Island. "However, I did not know how to explain it to you. So I asked the three of them to attack us, so you would think I used Complete Darkness to defeat them in the attack", he said and with each word the regret grew in his eyes.  
"But I still do not understand. Why did you have to fake your death?" I was still completely confused and just could not believe that Yuro was really alive.  
"Because I loved you like my own daughter and still do. It would have broken my heart to just leave you. And I was pretty sure you would look for me if I was not dead."  
"It broke my heart when I realized that you were no longer alive!" The tears were now running down in torrents.  
"I now know that it was wrong to pretend that I was dead. It hurt you deeply. Deeper than I wanted. I hope you can forgive me, Kuraiko." There was regret in his voice and I felt that he was being sincere. I jumped up, ran to him and clung onto him.  
"I'm just glad you're alive, Yuro", I sobbed into his cloak. Then I felt him put his arms around me and embrace me.  
"My little Kuraiko", he murmured and my tears did not diminish. I sobbed loudly. My teacher just hugged me tighter. It felt so good to feel the familiar magic, to inhale his scent and to hear him breathe. "I understand you joined Fairy Tail and found Gray again." I loosened my grip and looked into his brown eyes.  
"Yes", I confirmed. "I had gone to Hargeon and a year after my arrival, a ship from Fairy Tail had come into the harbour and I heard Gray's name. I followed them to Magnolia and then I learned everything there. Just over three months ago, I joined the Guild to stay with Gray."  
"I'm glad you found him. I also heard his name from some people during the fight between Oración Seis and the Alliance of Light Guilds, but I was not sure if it really was your brother", he confessed. "And your guild now wants to participate in the Grand Magic Games?"  
"Exactly. To regain the title as the strongest guild in Fiore", I said smirking.  
"I wish you good luck then," he said, smiling softly at me. This smile was my safety net. It made me happy and I was glad to see it again.  
"We'll bring Sabertooth to the ground", I promised and clenched a hand into a fist. Yuro placed a kiss on my forehead and then smiled at me with pride and joy.  
"I'll watch," he said, then turned into a shadow and disappeared. I stayed at open balcony door, on one hand close to tears, on the other hand, I was overjoyed. My teacher was alive.  
The others were with Jellal, Ultear and Meredy. Ultears Arc of Time allowed them to reach their full potential and now they were ready for the Grand Magic Games. Sabertooth and the others could come.


	7. Shadow meets Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fairy Tail arrives in Crocus and Kuraiko meets the cutest Exceed and its quite handsome owner.

Crocus was a beautiful city. Full of life and energy. Especially now at this time of the year. The Grand Magic Games were only a day away and the whole city was buzzing with anticipation.  
And somewhere in this whole turmoil, were we. After meeting Crime Sorcière, Gray and his friends had been training for the past four days, until we left for Crocus. We arrived in the afternoon and on the way to the hotel, we met up with Makorav and a few more people from the Guild. He told the team the rules and when that was done and we had brought our things to the hotel, we scattered in all directions. The team only had to be present at the hotel at midnight. That was the only rule the five had to stick to so far. Nobody knew why.  
I wandered around the city a little, looking at everything. Time flew by and it got dark quickly. Automatically, the streets of Crocus were lit by Lakrimas. As I walked on, I suddenly discovered an exceed-sized figure in a pink frog costume. It was standing in front of a map of Crocus, apparently trying to find its way somewhere.  
"Hey", I said cautiously when I arrived. As it turned to me, I recognized the green coat color and black round eyes. An Exceed.  
"Hi", replied it, smiling at me kindly. A sweet little fellow, I thought to myself.  
"What is your name, if I may ask?"  
"I'm Frosch." I had to smirk slightly, not only because of the funny name, but also for the way it suited the costume. "And who are you?"  
"I am Kuraiko. Glad to meet you, Frosch. "  
"Fro thinks so too", it said, holding up his right paw. Really cute.  
"I saw that you were looking at the map of Crocus. Do you want to go somewhere?", I asked.  
"Fro is not so good with directions and does often get lost", Frosch told me a bit depressed. "Fro is looking for the hotel of his guild."  
"Oh, which guild do you belong to? Then I could take you there", I suggested with a smile.  
"Really?" Frosch beamed at me very happy.  
"Sure."  
"Fro belongs to Sabertooth." To those guys, huh.  
"Okay." I picked up the little guy and then headed in the direction of the Sabertooth hotel.  
"Thank you, Kuraiko", the Exceed said, smiling broadly.  
"You're welcome", I replied and smiled back. Not only was the costume absolutely cute, but also the character of Frosch was really cute.  
"Do you belong to a guild?"  
"Yes, to Fairy Tail." Now he literally began to beam.  
"Fairy Tail?"  
"Yepp", I replied, smiling. Suddenly I felt several people around me, who did not have friendly intentions. I hugged the Exceed close to me and looked around me.  
"What's going on?", Frosch asked frightened.  
"I do not know why, but we are being followed", I said. Our pursuers hid, but I felt them exactly. Three mages. Not very strong, but not to be underestimated. Then they stepped out of a dark alley. One had short black hair and his right eye was blind, which was obvious because of the white pupil. To his right was a woman with shoulder-length white hair and piercing blue eyes and to his left another man with pale-blue hair and poisonous green eyes.  
"Give us the little rascal, then nothing will happen to you", said the guy with the blind eye. His voice sounded threatening. Since Frosch was a member of Sabertooth, I could even imagine why they wanted him. Probably to blackmail the guild to to make them drop out of the Grand Magic Games.  
Many guilds wanted that, because Sabertooth was damn strong. On one hand, I could not let anything happen to Frosch, and on the other, we wanted to destroy Sabertooth with our own hands and if they did not particapate, then we could not prove we were stronger, as fighting between the guilds outside the Grand Magic Games was forbidden. So I hugged Frosch even closer.  
"Forget it," I objected, glaring at the three of them.  
"Oh, the little girl is in the mood for a fight, huh?", the woman asked so spitefully, that it gave me the chills.  
"I will not give you Frosch", I growled at her.  
"Then we'll take him by force", the blue-haired one said, and they immediately started casting magic. The half-blind was an Earth mage, the wife a Celestial Spirit mage and the other guy was a Take-Over mage. I turned into a shadow with Frosch, dodging their attacks and trying to escape them, but the blue-haired guy had a creature that could grasp shadows. He grabbed me, forced me back to my normal shape and threw me violently to the ground. I protected the Exceed with my body, so nothing would happen to it.  
"Kuraiko! Are you okay?", Frosch asked worriedly, after I had hit the ground and moaned in pain.  
"Do not worry. I'll take you to Sabertooth", I promised him, panting slightly, and scrambled to my feet again, holding the Exceed protectively against me. Then suddenly the woman was swallowed by a shadow and after her the blue-haired guy.  
"Hey! What's this?", the half-blind man shouted shocked when he noticed this.  
"Nobody harms Frosch and gets away with it", I heard a male voice say, and right after that, the last one was also swallowed by a shadow. Without letting go of the Exceed, I watched the scene. Another shadow mage? Then suddenly a man appeared on the spot, where the half-blind guy had been standing earlier. He had slightly longer black hair that covered his right eye. He was wearing a black cloak with Sabertooth's white guild sign embroidered on the left side.  
"Rogue!", Frosch exclaimed excitedly, looking up at him happily. I loosened my grip on the Exceed, which flew straight out of my arms and into the man's arms.  
"Frosch. Luckily, nothing happened to you", he said with relief, hugging Frosch. The little guy clung to his friend and looked very relieved too. I could not help but smile and was about to leave when I heard my name.  
"Kuraiko wanted to bring Fro to the hotel, but then these guys showed up. Kuraiko was brave and protected Fro with her body so that nothing could happen to Fro", the Exceed told his friend.  
"Kuraiko?", he asked a bit confused. Frosch then pointed at me and then our eyes met. His eye shone in a beautiful ruby red and I immediately lost myself in it.  
"That's Kuraiko. She is a member of Fairy Tail."  
"Ah. Then I'll have to thank you for helping Frosch", Rogue said, approaching me.  
"Eh, no problem", I said, stuttering. His magic was powerful, but also his persona. When he stopped in front of me, he looked at me.  
"She's really nice", said Frosch, smiling happily. I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks, which most likely coloured them red, and my heart began to race. What was wrong with me?  
Rogue then looked at me with a smile. I felt like an ice cream in the sun. I literally melted away because of that smile and my heartbeat did not really calm down either.  
"Is everything okay?", Rogue asked me carefully. The take-over guy had thrown me violently on my right side and my arm hurt a bit, because he had been quite strong.  
"I think it will be okay", I replied, looking at my arm. It was bleeding. I formed a bandage out of shadow and tied it around the wound. My Shadow Healing Bandages had the advantage that they included healing magic and disappeared on their own when the healing process was complete.  
"A shadow mage?" I turned my gaze to Rogue, who eyed me with interest.  
"Yes, and as I've seen, you're also a shadow mage", I said.  
"That's right", he said.  
"He's the Shadow Dragon Slayer of Sabertooth", Frosch announced cheerfully. Now I remembered who he was.  
"You're Rogue Cheney, a member of Sabertooth and partner of Sting Eucliffe, the White Dragon Slayer of Sabertooth", I muttered to myself, but with his good ears, he heard me.  
"Correct", he said, and I realized what I had just muttered.  
"Oh, excuse me", I said directly, looking down. I could never keep my mouth shut.  
"It's okay. Kuraiko is your name?" Slowly I turned my gaze back to him and nodded. "I do not think I've heard of you before. How long have you been a member of Fairy Tail?"  
"Not very long. About four months."  
"Okay. That may sound a little rude, but you smell like someone from Fairy Tail." He had probably run into Gray.  
"I know that you Dragon Slayers have good noses", I said. "And it's not rude, because I've heard something like that before." Rogue chuckled and I melted once again. "You probably passed my brother." Now he looked at me a bit puzzled.  
"Your brother?", he asked. I nodded in response.  
"Gray Fullbuster", I said.  
"He's your brother?" Again I nodded. "I heard he will take part in the games."  
"Yes, he will."  
"You too?" I could have been wrong, but at that moment I thought I heard a hint of concern in his voice.  
"No, I'm in reserve." He sighed slightly and it sounded somewhat relieved. My cheeks were burning and my heart was still racing. "But you're sure to join in, right?"  
"As one of the strongest mages in Sabertooth, of course", Frosch said cheerfully. Rogue nodded in confirmation.  
"Yes, I am taking part." Then probably Sting too. "Say Kuraiko, is everything alright? Your cheeks are very red and your heart is racing." Shit! He had good ears as a Dragon Slayer. Too good in my opinion. Had he only mentioned the cheeks, then I would have had an excuse, but with the heart? It had to be a new one quickly. And then I came up with one.  
"Yes, it's all right. I'm just a little nervous", I said, which was true somewhere. Those three attacked me to get their hands on Frosch. You could get heart racing from that, right?  
"If you do not mind, I'd like to take you to Fairy Tail's Hotel. I would feel guilty if something were to happened to you on the way there. Think of it as a kind of thank you for trying to bringing Frosch back to us and protecting him."  
"Yeah!", the Exceed exclaimed really happy. Somehow, I could not refuse this offer.  
"Okay," I said smiling, but my cheeks were still hot. What was wrong with me? I was flattered by what Rogue had said. That he would feel guilty if something happened to me on my way to the hotel. Was I already in love with the Shadow Dragons of Sabertooth?!  
Frosch sat on his friend's shoulder and Rogue started walking with me. On the way I felt Rogues tension. He was alert and prepared for anything that might come at him.  
"You're tense," I commented.  
"You have a good feel. Yes, I'm tense, but only so I do not miss any danger", he told me. By now I had my cheeks under control again, but that sentence caused the blood to rush back immediately. Bloody hell! Also, my heart, which I also had reasonably under control, immediately started to beat faster again. All the trouble for nothing. "Your heart is racing again." Could he actually turn off those ears?  
"Yes. I had it under control, but it somehow has its own head." I put a fist on my chest. Damn it. In the corner of my eye, I saw Rogue's smile. I hoped that he would not get the wrong idea. Although what was the 'wrong idea'? That I had a crush on him? Somehow I could not label that as 'wrong idea'.  
"You can not really control the heart. It beats to the rhythm in which it feels comfortable in a situation." I looked at him a bit surprised but also admiringly. I did not think to hear such a sentence from the mouth of one of Sabertooth's strongest members.  
"You're probably right", I said smiling, looking straight ahead. I was right, I confessed to him silently.  
Then suddenly I felt something heavy on my left shoulder and as I swayed my gaze to it, I saw Frosch, who had made himself comfortable there. As the Exceed was sitting on my shoulder, which was in Rogue's direction, I saw Rogue's smile. Frosch looked at me with friendly round eyes and I could not help but smile. I stroked his head, which was commented with a soft purr.  
"Fro likes you, Kuraiko", the Exceed said while continuing to purr. My cheeks became a tad redder, I felt that immediately.  
"I like you too, Frosch", I said. He was really a sweet fellow. Rogue watched the scene with a happy look. Probably because Frosch had no other person besides him, and perhaps Sting and his Exceed, whom he could call a friend. Now Frosch was sitting on my shoulder and leaned against my head.

The little Exceed was really tired, since he had probably been lost in the city for very long, before he had found the map. When he fell asleep, I took him from my shoulder and carried him to the hotel. Once there, we stopped in front of the front door and I handed Frosch back to Rogue.  
"Thank you for escorting me", I said to him, offering a hand.  
"You're welcome", he said, shaking it. His skin was soft and showed no trace of scars, unlike mine. I had a few smaller ones here and there, one bigger on the left side of my jaw and one on my left shoulder. "Where did you get those two big scars?" Since Frosch had been sitting on my left shoulder, he must have noticed the one on my shoulder and when I took the Exceed off my shoulder, he probably saw the one on my cheek.  
"That's a very long story", I said. I did not really like to talk about it because it brought up terrible memories. I had even deterred Gray when he asked me about it.  
"I'd like to hear it", Rogue insisted, but he sounded not demanding but more pleading and even a little worried. I sighed.  
"I can not really tell you", I said, looking down at the floor. "It brings up too many bad memories." Then I felt his soft hand on my left shoulder.  
"Okay, I understand", he said sympathetically. The gesture made me look him in the eye, which immediately captivated me again. It was just beautiful and shone like a real ruby.  
"Thanks", I mumbled. He smiled lightly at me and there I also recognized the understanding that I had previously heard in his voice.  
"I wish you a good night and I hope to see you again", he said, taking his hand off my shoulder.  
"Me too, and also a good night. And good luck in the games", I replied.  
"Do you really wish that to me?", he asked with a smirk. Ah yes, he was in Sabertooth.  
"You also have to wish your opponents luck, otherwise it's unfair", I replied.  
"That is true. Then I thank you", he said, turning to leave. "Goodbye, Kuraiko."  
"Goodbye, Rogue." He smiled over his shoulder and then disappeared as a shadow. First impression? A sympathetic guy with a sweet Exceed as a friend.  
"There you are, finally!" I turned to the front door and found Gray standing on the threshold. He looked pretty worried. "Where have you been?" He asked as he went down the stairs and stopped in front of me. He was half a head taller than me, so I had to look up at him.  
"A little walk", I answered. Then he turned his eyes to my right arm, where the shadow bandage was still healing my wound.  
"And where did that come from?", he asked, pointing at the bandage.  
"I wanted to help an Exceed who wandered around in Crocus. When I was on the way to his hotel with the little guy, three mages attacked me. One of them threw me violently to the ground, scratching my arm. But it's nothing serious", I assured him.  
"Fine", Gray sighed, relieved. "How did you escape these guys?"  
"Someone from Sabertooth helped me." He looked at me puzzled. Obviously, it was not really understandable why someone of that guild should help me.  
"Seriously?" I nodded in response.  
"He was looking for the Exceed and since I had the little guy with me, he also indirectly helped me." My brother eyes me as if he was considering the probabilities of whether that could really be true. Finally, he gave it up.  
"As long as you're fine, I'm quiet", he said and then went back into the hotel, with me in tow.  
The first day in Crocus had been quite exciting. I had met the sweetest Exceed ever and the Shadow Dragon Slayer of Sabertooth, which I had crushed on at first sight. And I could imagine that these would be very interesting games. Especially since my heart cheered for Rogue, but my head would support Fairy Tail. How would that turn out, if he had to fight one of us? Best of all, even Gray. I desperately hoped that would not happen.


	8. Sky Labyrinth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team from Fairy Tail is facing the first challenge of the Grand Magic Games, while Kuraiko and the rest of the guild are searching for a missing Wendy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning:  
\- slight cursing

We went up the stairs and passed all rooms until we arrived at ours. Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Wendy shared one while I was accommodated in one with Lisanna, Elfman, and Mirajane. Both rooms were next to each other.  
From Gray's room, I could hear Erza. She was talking to Natsu, Lucy and Happy. Gray opened the door and we entered. The redhead sat on the bed, in front of her in a row Happy, Natsu and Lucy. Directly we drew the stern look of Erza on us. She looked pretty angry.  
"Sit down," she ordered, pointing beside Lucy. Gray, who apparently did not want to be beaten up by Erza, went straight to his assigned seat and sat down without a comment. "You can stand, Kuraiko." Oh how generous. "Where were you?"  
"I had a very unpleasant dinner," Gray replied, having a painful look on his face. It was highly likely that dinner had been with Juvia and her new nuisance Lyon ofLamia Scale. He had fallen head over heels in love with her. Much like I had done with Rogue.  
"We came across a rather nasty fellow with his red-brown Exceed and his weird dark-haired buddy," Lucy said. The Exceed she described must have been Lector, one of Sabertooth. The fellow must therefore have been Sting and the dark-haired Rogue. I flinched slightly, which earned me a look from Erza.  
"Everything okay, Kuraiko?" she asked a little more gently. I just nodded. I could not really mention that Rogue had been the one who had helped me, if only indirectly. The others, too, had their eyes fixed on me now.  
"What?" I asked them and looked at each one briefly.  
"Was one of the two guys the one who saved you?" Gray inquired. Damn.  
"Saved?", Lucy asked, surprised, then looked at my right arm. The Shadow Bandage was still healing the injury, so it was still there. I shifted my gaze to the side. "What happened?"  
"I wanted to help an Exceed to his hotel. Then suddenly three mages appeared and wanted to kidnap the little one. I protected him and one of them threw me on the floor", I told them, because the questioning was getting on my nerves.  
"Where are these guys?" Natsu asked snarling.  
"Gone, swallowed by a shadow", I answered.  
"You mean the Sabertooth Shadow Dragon Slayer saved you?" Erza asked, surprised.  
"Yes, damn it!" Everyone gave me a puzzled look. Oops, I had overreacted a bit. "Sorry, it was a bit much for a day."  
"It's okay," Lucy said with a smile. "We're just glad you're okay." I smiled back slightly. Gray, however, had a look of hostility on his face. If he were to fight Rogue, he would try by all means to bring him closer to the floor.  
It still puzzled me. The thing why my heart had started racing like that. Did I really fall head over heels for Rogue? Erza looked at the clock. It was two minutes before midnight.  
"Where's Wendy?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the clock.  
"I have not seen her anywhere," Lucy said.  
"Me neither," Gray said.  
"Me neither," I said. The whole team had to be at the hotel at midnight. Something was wrong. Wendy would never be this late, especially if Charle was with her. At that moment the door opened and Lisanna and Elfman came in.  
"Hello everybody," Lisanna greeted us all with a happy smile.  
"A manly hello," Elfman greeted us. He had it with the manly stuff, which sometimes could be really annoying.  
"Hello you two," Erza responded. "What brings you here?" As if on command, Elfman lifted up a box with some green bottles in it.  
"We thought you might need some of these," Lisanna said.  
"A few energy drinks to keep you on your toes," Elfman told us, putting down the box and then looking at the others. "Everything okay?"  
"Yeah, it's just that Wendy and Charle are not back yet," Gray told them. Lisanna and Elfman exchanged glances for a moment and then looked back at us with worried faces.  
"Where could they be?" Lisanna asked. The clock struck midnight.  
"Good evening to everyone in Crocus and especially to all participants of the Grand Magic Games!" The voice came from outside. Directly we all ran to the balcony of the room and we immediately stopped shocked. Above the city hovered a huge ball. "I warmly welcome everyone to the knock-out round."  
"Knock-out round?" I asked a bit confused. I heard about the games last year and there was none.  
"The Grand Magic Games are really well attended this year. One hundred and thirteen guilds are taking part and want to win the title of the strongest guild in Fiore! "  
"One hundred and thirteen?" Lucy asked, completely surprised. I was just as stunned. I thought there were only about fifty legal guilds.  
"So this year, for the first time in the history of the Grand Magic Games, there's going to be a knock-out round. Only eight out of a hundred thirteen guilds continue to fight for the title!" Eight? Was he serious? Suddenly, in front of the balcony railing, a path appeared that led directly to the ball. "The knock-out round is called Sky Labyrinth. All teams must try to find their way through it. The first eight to reach the goal advance. Good luck!"  
"What should we do? Wendy is not here!" Natsu reminded us. Then, Elfman grabbed him, Gray, Erza and Lucy and ran directly over the path towards the ball.  
"Big Bro, what are you doing?"  
"We have to bring in a complete team. I'll jump in for Wendy, because we do not have the time to look for her", he told his sister. For the fact that usually only the sentence 'I am so manly' swirled around in his brain, this was proper thinking.  
"Good thinking, Elfman", Gray praised him.  
"Hey Lisanna, Kuraiko, Happy," Erza called out to us.  
"Yes, what is Erza?" I called back.  
"Find Wendy and Charle. I'm worried about them."  
"Okay, do not worry. Since the whole guild is here, we'll animate them to help find them", Lisanna shouted to her.  
"Do that," Natsu shouted back.  
"Good luck and come under the first eight!", Happy called to them.  
"That's our declared goal!" Lucy shouted back and then they were gone. I hoped that they would make it.  
"Okay, let's go get the others," Lisanna told me.  
"Wait, we be losing too much time with that. I have another idea", I told her, putting my hand on the railing and sending shadows over it. "The shadows will tell the others and I've sent a request to Warren so we can communicate using his telepathy magic."  
"Awesome, Kuraiko," Happy said, smiling broadly.  
"Well, everyone is notified."  
"Okay, let's search for them." Lisanna and I ran down the stairs and out of our hotel while Happy was flying behind us.  
_Hey Guys_, we heard Warren say with his telepathy.  
_Good thing that you reacted directly, Warren_, I said to him.  
_Thanks for your message, Kuraiko_, he said. _Okay, we're looking for Wendy and Charle. Does anyone have any idea where they might be?_ Short silence, then again a "no" or "no idea". Damn, we would never find them like this.  
_Okay, listen up, people_, I interrupted everyone. _It will not work like this. We'll have to ask passers-by if they've seen a blue-haired girl and a white cat. That's our only chance._  
_Kuraiko is right, otherwise we'll never find them_, said Macao.  
_Warren, could you find them with your telepathy?_  
_No, something is blocking me from contacting them_, he answered me. Damn it.  
_Okay, let's start searching_, I said, and I heard an affirmative "Yeah". The family was on the way.  
"I'll move through the city in shadow form and maybe I'll find her like that", I let Lisanna and Happy know.  
"Okay, take care of yourself", Lisanna said and started walking with Happy flying right behind her. I transformed myself and immediately left.  
As I slithered through the city, I heard the guild members ask the roaming passers-by if they had seen anything. But the answer was always negative. I slowly approached the palace.  
_Hey guys, I got something_, I heard Lisanna say.  
_Then shoot_, Romeo told her. I felt around me. She was with Happy right outside the gate to the garden of the castle.  
Immediately I scurried to her and when I arrived, I turned back into my human form. She turned around to me and nodded quickly.  
_I have a hint. The guards at the gate to the garden of the castle said they saw Wendy and Charle go in. Since it is an exceptional situation, they will let us in. Kuraiko has just joined us. With her and Happy, I will search the gardens._  
_Very good, Lisanna_, Makorav praised her. _Find the two and make sure they're alright._  
_Will do, Gramps_, I said. The guards let us pass. The gardens were huge.  
"We should split up. This place is very large and as a group we well never find anything there."  
"You're right, Kuraiko. Okay, Warren is still lending us his telepathy, so let us know if you find her", Lisanna said.  
"Yeah, okay", I and Happy answered at the same time, and we parted ways. I tried to feel them, but I felt absolutely nothing. That did not mean anything good.  
_I have them!_, the Exceed called out soon after.  
_Okay, we'll be right with you_, I said, feeling for his presence. He was nearby, but why did not I sense Wendy and Charle? I followed my instincts and arrived at Happy with Lisanna.  
He stood frozen and shaking as if he were really cold. When we stepped behind him, we saw why. Wendy and Charle lay unconscious on the floor. There was absolutely no magic left in them. They were completely empty.  
"Shit", I mumbled and ran with Lisanna towards them. _Guys, we have them, but they are unconscious._  
_And they have no magic left_, Lisanna added. What had happened to them?  
_I beg your pardon? They have no magic left?_, Makorav inquired horrified.  
_They are completely empty_, I confirmed.  
_Take them to the infirmary right away! We cannot lose a second!_ he ordered us.  
_At it._ I touched the two of them, turned into my shadow form with them, and scurried directly to the infirmary below the stadium. It had been specially set up for the Grand Magic Games.  
I hurried and arrived there only seconds later. Porlyusica was also brought there. I put them both on a sickbed and waited for the old lady, who came soon after my arrival.  
"What happened?" she asked me and went straight to Wendy.  
"We do not know, but both are completely drained of magic. Not even a quench is left of it."  
"This is not good. I need your Slayer magic. As far as I know, it also contains some healing magic." How did she know about my Slayer magic? Anyway, I would ask her about that alter. After a short shock I answered.  
"Yes, it does, but I do not think my magic will do much."  
"It will. Create one of your bandages. That will be enough." I did as I was told, molded one and gave it to Porlyusica. "And now go away. The two need rest."  
"Okay", I agreed, because I did not want to be shooed out by her. I left the room and spotted almost the whole guild in front of it. They had come because they were worried. I hope they had not heard anything.  
"How are they?" Romeo asked anxiously.  
"Porlyusica is helping them, but they are still empty like a sheet of white paper."  
"Hm. We should all rest. The knock-out round is also over, but they did not want to tell us if our team is in or not", Makorav said sadly. That could not be true! They did not want to tell us whether we're in or not? Well, nothing could be done about that.  
Everyone went back to the hotel and into their rooms. When I arrived with Lisanna, we noticed that Mirajane was not there. But we were too tired to worry about it.  
Lisanna soon fell asleep, but I could not really. I was worried about Wendy and Charle. Why had they been attacked and completely deprived of their magic? And how did Porlyusica know about my Slayer magic? I also thought about our team. Did they make it? There was at least hope, since none of them had returned to the hotel. And who else was I thinking about? Rogue. Did Sabertooth make it? Surely.  
I gave up trying to sleep, got up and went out onto the balcony as quietly as possible. It had freshened up and a light breeze was chasing through the streets of Crocus. Everyone was already asleep. The whole city was silent. I looked west, where Domus Flau looked down on the city. The four large statues of the stadium stood unmoved by the hustle and bustle on their places. A beautiful and at the same time authoritative view.  
For a long time I looked at the stadium until something else caught my attention. Something came flying right at me. On closer inspection, I recognized Frosch. He looked tired, but he also seemed unable to sleep. Maybe the same thing was bugging him that has been keeping me awake. When he arrived, Frosch landed on the balcony railing.  
"Hello Kuraiko," he greeted me, muttering, so as not to wake the others.  
"Hey Frosch, what brings you to me at such a late hour?" I asked him. Somewhat saddened he looked down on the city.  
"Fro is worried about Rogue", he told me. "He and the others have not returned to the hotel yet."  
"Our team also not."  
"Really?"  
"Yes. I am also worried about our guys. But there is also hope somewhere that they made it." The Exceed smiled slightly up at me. I returned the smile and stroked its head. "I'm sure everything is okay."  
"Tell me Kuraiko, are you worried about Rogue too?" This question came as a surprise. Even if I could not really deny it. Somewhere in my heart I was worried about the Shadow Dragon Slayer.  
"I can not deny that deep inside of me, I'm also worried about him", I admitted. Frosch looked at me pitifully.  
"You like Rogue, but how will that work during the Games?" he asked me. I had already asked myself that question.  
"I'll see, but I think I will not be able to stand by if he has to fight one of Fairy Tail. Especially if this someone is my brother. It would tear me in two", I said, looking down on the railing. It would be really hard if the two really had to fight. Frosch then put a paw on my arm as if to cheer me up. I looked at the Exceed who meanwhile smiled at me again.  
"If that happens, then Fro will be with you", he promised me. Shortly surprised, but then slightly smiling, I looked at him.  
"Thank you, Frosch."  
"Fro hopes his presence will help you."  
"But what about Lector? Will not he be offended when you're not with him?"  
"That may be, but Lector is big enough to take care of himself", the Exceed said a bit sourly. It seemed as if the two sometimes had disagreements, but still always remained friends somewhere. I stroked his head again.  
"Thank you Frosch. You are very nice." The Exceed beamed a smile at me as if everything was okay. But these questions still plagued me. What would happen if Rogue had to fight one of us? What if this one was Gray? What would I do then? I would not be able to decide for who to cheer. I loved both. But as the saying goes, love is a double-edged sword. It can enliven you or cause you pain. In that case, it probably would do both.  
"Everything okay?" Frosch asked, ripping me from my thoughts.  
"Yes, I'm fine", I answered. "We should try to sleep. Tomorrow, we'll see if our teams got through."  
"You're right", he said, yawning heartily.  
"Do you want to stay here tonight?" I asked with a slight smile.  
"Fro thinks that's a good idea", the Exceed replied mumbling, whereupon he fell into my arms and fell asleep. He was just too cute.  
Silently, I went back into the room, lay down in my bed and placed Frosch at my side. He snuggled up next to me and began to purr softly. Smiling, I closed an arm around the little guy and let my eyes close. I pushed all questions aside and concentrated on the little hope that Rogue and Gray did not have to fight each other. With this and other thoughts of the two I finally fell asleep.


	10. Day 1 of the Grand Magic Games

I woke up early. Frosch was still sleeping next to me. Lisanna was still asleep as well. The first day of the Grand Magic Games had begun.  
Without waking the Exceed, I got up and put on a midnight blue shirt, dark blue jeans, leather boots and my leather jacket that I got from Yuro.  
_Morning sister,_ I suddenly heard my brother's voice in my head. He used telepathy, but on his own, which meant no one else heard us.  
_Good morning, brother,_ I returned the greeting. _I am so glad to finally hear something from you._  
_Same here,_ he said. _Unfortunately, I can not talk for long, because I have to change soon._ That could only mean one thing, they were in. I thanked him quietly for this hint. _I just wanted to ask you how you are._  
_Well, I cannot complain. Yesterday I was just so nervous that I could hardly fall asleep. Before that we also found Wendy and Charle, injured and without magic, which did not really contribute to my sleep. Oh, does the team know what happened to Wendy and Charle?_  
_Yes, we know. We visited her last night. Porlyusica was with her and told us everything. Also, how you brought them to the infirmary and gave the old lady one of your shadow bandages that she can use for healing. I am proud of you._ I smiled and was glad that they knew it and that they were reassured that Wendy and Charle were in good hands with Porlyusica. _So, I have to get ready. See you later in the arena._  
_Yes, see you later and thanks for the reassurance._ Even through telepathy, I felt his smile. Then the connection was cut off. At least I knew that our team was in. I would not tell the others, but they would be thrilled when they finally found out.  
Slowly something started to move on my bed. Frosch was waking slowly. I sat down beside the Exceed as he sat up and rubbed his eyes drowsily.  
"Good morning, Frosch," I greeted him with a smile. Still a bit disoriented, the little one looked up at me and smiled a bit sleepily.  
"Good morning, Kuraiko," he replied, yawning heartily.  
"Slept well?"  
"Yes, thank you. And you?"  
"Cannot complain. Excited? "As if struck by lightning, he suddenly woke up and beamed at me like sunshine.  
"Definitely."  
"Well then. You should probably return to your hotel. I'm sure the other members are already looking for you."  
"Okay," said Frosch, spreading his wings and then looking at me again. "Thanks for letting me sleep here."  
"Any time, Frosch," I said. Then he rose into the air and flew out of an open window. If our team was in, then certainly also Sabertooth. When I realized this, my heart jumped, but my head did not like it very much. There it started already.  
Slowly, Lisanna woke up too. I had grown fond of her and her older sister, Mirajane, rather quickly. Lisanna was gracious and friendly. She mastered animal soul take-over magic. Mirajane was known as 'The She-Devil' for her take-over magic Satan Soul. Elfman, the brother of the two, used Beast Soul take-over magic and all three were known as the Strauß siblings.  
"Oh, already up, Kuraiko?", Lisanna asked a bit sleepily, as she sat up and discovered me in full gear.  
"Yeah, I woke up a bit earlier than you and got dressed," I replied. Lisanna yawned once and looked at me briefly.  
"You look like a rocker bride", she smirked. Leather jacket, leather boots, dressed quite dark. Fits the descrition.  
"I am a shadow mage", I said.  
"And you do your magic justice", she said. She got up and changed. "Have you heard anything from our team?"  
"Gray contacted me briefly but did not tell me anything. He obviously wanted to maintain the tension. "  
"Oh come on, I can't stand it anymore", Lisanna murmured excitedly. I laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  
"Do not worry, I'm sure they're in", I assured her.  
When she was dressed, we went to breakfast. Arriving in the hall, the smell of bacon, eggs and fresh toast hit us immediately. But also a lot of magic. Excited and tense magic. I glanced around and spotted some members of our guild, including Gramps, Macao, Wakaba, Romeo, Warren, Alzak, Bisca, and Asuka. Lisanna went to get something to eat. But despite the confirmation from my brother, I was so excited that I would not get anything down. So I just got an orange juice and sat down on an empty seat next to Makorav.  
"Good morning, Kuraiko", he greeted me and bit off a piece of his toast.  
"Good morning, Gramps", I replied. I quickly fell into the habit of calling him that, just like Gray and the others did.  
"News from your brother?" He asked as he swallowed his bite. Apparently he had already thought that Gray would contact me. I leaned forward so I could whisper in his ear. I would only tell him about the progress of our team.  
"He contacted me earlier and according to his hints, they are in", I whispered to him. When I straightened up, I saw his mischievous grin in the corner of my eye. "Is there anything else I need to know?" This time he motioned to me to come closer. So I leaned in again.  
"We had two teams enrolled", he whispered to me. What? Two teams?  
"Who was in the second team?"  
"Laxus, Gajeel, Juvia, Mirajane and Mystogan." That explained why Mira was not there. They had apparently made it in as well, otherwise they would be here. But two teams of a guild? And hold on. I thought Mystogan was in Edolas?  
"Should Mystogan be here at all?" I asked in a whisper.  
"It's not really Mystogan. It's Jellal, from Crime Sorcière."  
"What the heck is he doing in one of our teams?"  
Gramps then explained to me that Crime Sorcière had come to him and told him that they had always felt unusually powerful magic during the last few games and that perhaps this might have something to do with Zeref. However, to gather more information, they would have to go near the stadium, which was not possible because no one was allowed to see them. So Jellal, dressed up as a Mystogan, would be part of one of our teams and get more info inside the stadium.  
"Nevertheless. He does not belong to the guild. If he is discovered, we are disqualified."  
"I know that, but I know from Jellal that he is not so stupid to let himself be unmasked. The risk is low, especially with disguise as Mystogan. "  
"If you say so, Gramps. But the risk remains." He nodded and had a rather sober expression.  
All were finally finished with breakfast, I finished my orange juice, then we made our way to Domus Flau, the stadium in the west.  
Since we were a guild that attended, we had our own private balcony. Simply with us being on one of the balconies, it was already clear that we were in. The balcony promised a good view over the entire arena. On our arrival, we also discovered the balconies of the other guilds. One was empty. That meant one of the guilds had two teams in the games.  
"Good morning Crocus!", The commentator's voice rang through the arena. "Welcome to the Grand Magic Games!" There was an immediate loud cheer from the audience. The entire stadium was sold out. "I am Chapati Lola, the commentator for these games. Next to me is ex-council member Yajima. Glad to have you here, Mister Yajima. "  
"The pleasure is mine, Chapati", came the voice of Yajima. He was not only an ex-member of the council, but also an old friend of Gramps.  
"And I'm pleased to introduce the guest for the first day. The loveable Jenny Realight from Blue Pegasus. "  
"We'll take the title this year!" Yeah, sure. Fairy Tail would beat everyone, I was more than sure of that.  
"With that, we would have introduced everyone here. Let's get to the teams that made it through the Knock-Out Round." The audience was close to freaking out, or rather, it was freaking out. We just stood on the balcony, watching everything. "First on the list, the team which made it to eighth place. Can they regain the title that was theirs long ago? The guild whose name clashes with its liveliness! Fairy Tail!" Elfman, Gray, Natsu, Lucy and Erza came out from under us. And a loud "Boo!" was heard from the audience. Only we cheered for our team.  
"Go Fairy Tail!", cried Gramps and everyone agreed with a "Yeah!" I just leaned against a wall and watched everything. Our team was quite surprised by the reaction of everyone in the stadium. But then they discovered something that also surprised us on the balcony. The first master, Mavis, had come here from Tenrou Island to cheer for our team. "Eh, Master Mavis, what are you doing here?", Gramps asked, completely perplexed. The other guild members were obviously surprised too.  
"What does it look like," Mavis asked brightly. "I am cheering for our team."  
"Next team, which came in seventh place." The commentator's voice tore our attention back to the arena. "The Watch Dogs of Hell, Quattro Cerberus!" This time, cheers came from the throats of the audience. The idiots liked them, but apparently they could not care less about us.  
Below the balcony to the right of us came five rather funny-looking guys. One even looked more like a robot than a human.  
"In sixth place, we have the all-women's guild! The dancing girls of the deep, Mermaid Heel! "  
The balcony to the right of the one from Quattro Cerberus Guild was for them. From under this one came the five members of the guild. Five good-looking women. Well, actually only four, because one was still quite young.  
"Let's continue with the fifth place. The blue wings that brighten the darkness! Blue Pegasus! "  
Next to the balcony of Mermaid Heel to the right, that was Blue Pegasus. Ichiya, Hibiki, Rem and Eve, the four most glittering guys I've ever seen, came out underneath. A bunny with them. Yeah, right, a bunny. Or maybe a person in a rabbit costume?  
"Fourth place. The goddess of war and love, the holy destroyer! Lamia Scale! "  
More cheers as the five participants, consisting of Lyon, a guy with huge eyebrows, a young girl, a guy with dog ears and a sock around his neck and Wizard Saint Jura, emerged from under the balcony of Lamia Scale.  
Gray and Lyon talked to each other when the Lamia Scale team had joined the other teams in the middle of the arena. I sharpened my ears and heard them debating a bet that implied that Juvia would join Lamia Scale, should Lamia Scale claim the victory. Somehow I found this bet pretty unfair, because we would have none of it. Besides, those idiots would not stand a chance against us.  
"Next team, which took the third place. Oh, that's a surprise. The Midnightforce, Raven Tail! "  
There was a murmur this time. Nobody expected to see them in the games. Actually, they were also a dark guild, but obviously they made it into the game somehow. I strongly suspected that they were behind the attack on Wendy and Charle.  
"In second place. Oh, that's a shock! Unbelievable and super strong! Fairy Tail Team B! "  
Laxus, Mirajane, Gajeel, Juvia and Mystogan alias Jellal entered the arena. Again only mumbling. Everyone was confused.  
Yajima then explained that each guild had permission to enroll two teams. Thus, the knock-out-round should be made more exciting. That's why there were so many "guilds". One hundred and thirteen was just too big a number. However, a guild only seemed to have sent one team into the race. And that was a hundred percent Raven Tail.  
However, Jenny pointed out that in a Battle Royal, the Fairy Tail members could band together, which would be unfair towards the other teams. But Yajima did not worry about it.  
"Okay guys, let's get to the first place." Before he could go on, there was already loud cheering in the arena. Everyone knew who was the first to finish the knock-out round. "Exactly! You love them! They are the unbeaten, invincible champions! Sabertooth! "  
They came out from under the balcony to the left of us. Everyone knew them. The White Dragon Slayer Sting Eucliffe, with his hands victoriously stretched in the air. Rufus Lore, the minnesinger who sings to the Red Moon. Orga Nanagear, the Lightning God Slayer. To the shock of the audience not Minerva Orlando, but a young woman with short white hair and a white cape followed the others into the arena. And then came he. Rogue Cheney, the Shadow Dragon Slayer. A stone fell from my heart, but it was immediately replaced by another one.  
Accompanied by great rejoicing, they joined the other teams in the middle of the arena. Our teams threw a hostile look in their direction. To my discomfort, I recognized a particular hostility in Gray's eyes as he spotted Rogue. I hoped the two did not have to compete against each other.  
"All teams are introduced, now we come to the program of the Grand Magic Games", said the commentator. It became a bit quieter, but in between there were some cheers.  
Suddenly a huge stone tablet appeared in the middle of the arena. Then the different days were sorted by numbers. Day one to four were: Competition and Battles. Day five was just a big question mark. That was the last day of the Grand Magic Games.  
"Each day will begin with a competition in which all teams will select a member to represent them and their guild in. They will then be placed from first to eighth place. For each place there is a certain score. Magic may always be used freely." On the stone tablet now the places and the respective score were displayed.  
First place - ten points  
Second place - eight points  
Third place - six points  
Fourth place - four points  
Fifth place - three points  
Sixth place - two points  
Seventh place - one point  
Eighth place - zero points  
"After that we have the battles. These are an exciting event for all fans as they have proposed the respective opposing fighters. However, the Grand Magic Games committee still has the last word and decides who fights against whom." That could be tough. If you were thrown into a competition and then had a battle coming up, it could be pretty bad, depending on how much magic you had left. Unfortunately, the battle partners would not be announced beforehand, which made it worse.  
The stone tablet showed something new again.  
Team A vs. Team B  
Team C vs. Team D  
Team E vs. Team F  
Team G vs. Team H  
Winner - ten points  
Loser - zero points  
Draw - five points  
"The battles are easy. Each team will compete once, as written on the stone tablet. The winners get ten points while the losers get zero. In the event of a tie, both teams will each get five points." That would be tough, but we could do it. "Alright? Then let's start with the first competition, Hidden! "The word "Hidden" was displayed on the stone tablet. What could that be? "I would like to see all the teams choose a competitor for our first competition. When all are selected, the rules will be explained."  
Everyone in the arena started to talk. Quattro Cerberus sent a rather powerfully built guy with long white hair tied in a tight braid, white bandages on both hands, and the red, spiked collar they all wore.  
"First we have Quattro Cerberus, Yeager!"  
Next came Mermaid Heel, who sent in the seemingly youngest in their ranks forward. A girl with two plaited light brown braids and light blue carrier suit, under which she wore a black short-sleeved shirt.  
"From Mermaid Heel, sweet Beth Vanderwood!"  
Raven Tail sent a small guy, with pink skin, yellow hair and a pronounced chin, with something black that was reminiscent of an ant's scissors, into the competition.  
"From Raven Tail, Nalpudding!" I had to be careful not burst into laughter when hearing that name.  
Blue Pegasus decided to send it a blonde youth, with a bright shirt and dark pants, who was accompanied by loud cheers, especially from the ladies.  
"From Blue Pegasus, Eve Tilm! You hear a lot of cheers from the girls." Pretty boy, I thought.  
Next was Sabertooth with Rufus Lore. Light brown long hair, musketeer hat and mask. Everything about him just screamed "Hidden".  
"Keep your eyes on him, people. From Sabertooth, the minstrel who sings to the Red Moon, Rufus Lore! "  
Lamia Scale brought out the big guns. They chose the white-haired and rebellious Lyon.  
"From Lamia Scale, Lyon Vastia!"  
Now it was our turn.  
"From Fairy Tail Team A, the icy Gray Fullbuster!" When I heard the name, my heart almost stopped. I looked down at him and he looked quite serious. He probably wanted to compete against Lyon. As long as he did not fight Rogue, I was okay. "From Fairy Tail Team B, Juvia Lockser!" I had to smile a bit, because she was certainly entering the competition only to be with Gray. "We have all participants and the competition can start!"  
All who competed were not to be underestimated. However, I was just glad that Rogue did not enter. We had a good chance with Gray and Juvia and I wished them both good luck and success. Everyone here on the balcony would cheer them on.  
The rest from each team made their way to the outskirts of the arena and would watch everything from there. The chosen competitors stood in front of the stone tablet, on which their names and their guild were shown. I intensely hoped that our two fighters would do good, and I was surely not the only one who did so. 


	11. Nullification

A person with a green cape and a pumpkin mask appeared in the arena. Apparently he had a micro lacrima with him, since his was voice was heard all over the stadium, when he spoke.  
"Now then, I ask all competitors to come forward." All stepped closer to him.  
"There are now two questions in everyone's head", the voice of the commentator, Chapati Lola, echoed through the arena. "What kind of game will "Hidden" be and who is the favourite of this mysterious competition."  
"It is probably clear that Rufus Lore from Sabertooth has a good chance of winning", Yajima said. "But Gray from Fairy Tail is also not to be underestimated." I grinned a little after that sentence. He had trust in him.  
"Let us ask our special guest of today. Miss Jenny Realight from Blue Pegasus." Why bother? It was clear, for whom she would cheer.  
"My favourite? Obviously Eve." Who else? "He already has the cat in the bag." She was way to sure of herself and her guild.  
The eight competitors stood around the pumpkin guy. They were talking. Apparently the troll from Raven Tail was not really okay with the fact that we sent in two people. But the pumpkin guy did not really seem to care and started the competition. Suddenly, houses appeared in the middle of the arena around the competitors and formed a little city.  
"Wow, they fit an entire city in the stadium?" Happy asked excitedly, who had placed himself next to Lily on the balcony railings.  
"I have never seen anything like it", Gramps thought out loud. Now I started understanding the game. It was like "Hide and Seek".  
In front of our balcony, as well as in front of the audience and the other balconies, lacrima screeens appeared, on which we could see the competitors in the city. All were scattered throughout it.  
"All guild members, as well as the audience can watch everything on the lacrima screens. The competitors in the city surely would like the same luxury, but that would make it too easy. Talking about easy, here are the rules of the competition. All competitors are hiding and seeking at the same time! The goal is to locate the others. If someone is found, that person has to be attacked and hit. The victorious, whether the attack has caused damage or not, gets one point, while the other gets a point deducted." Something began moving in the city and shortly after multiple copies of all competitors stood around. It was beginning to become difficult. Even I had problems identifiying my brother from all those copies. As I caught a glimpse of Natsu, I had to grin. Apparently the lone thought of so many Grays made him sick. "Yeah, I know, they are pretty, but these copies are not only for show. If a copy is attacked by accident, it costs the attacker one point." They could not be serious! A gong was heard and the audience began screaming and cheering. The competition had started.  
"Let's start "Hidden"!", The commentator exclaimed. Pretty tense, I watched the action. Juvia had heart-shaped eyes. Sure, she had never seen so many Grays yet. But what she did then was absolutely stupid. She wrapped her arms around one of the copies. And that's why she got a point deducted instantly. "And with that hug attack, Juvia from Fairy Tail's Team B loses one point. She gets a time-out of ten seconds and has to start again in another place. The same happens when someone is hit by another player's attack." Gajeel, from our Team B was visibly upset about this. But who could have foreseen such a crooked thing? "You can have as many timeouts as you need, but the clock keeps ticking. The competition lasts thirty minutes and whoever has the most points in the end is the winner."  
On one of the screens my real brother was shown. He faced Nalpudding from Raven Tail. Something annoyed me about this situation. Gray did not hesitate and attacked the troll with a hammer of ice. But instead of getting a point, one was deducted one. He had attacked a copy of Nalpudding. But how was that possible? Obviously you could use the copies to get closer to another participant.  
For a long time, nothing moved until Gray faced the troll of Raven Tail again. However, he had no time to react and was directly attacked by Nalpudding. Either it was just imagination or the little disgusting hedgehog was after my brother.  
"The tension is so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. Raven Tail's Nalpudding is doing well, while the Fairy Tailers have already got multiple point deducted." I would have liked to give the commentator a huge slap in the face after the comment.  
"Ivan, you scumbag", Gramps growled sourly. Ivan was the guild master of Raven Tail and the son of Makorav. Apparently he had the same idea as me. The little spiked ball down there was focused on my brother and most likely on Juvia too. And on behalf of Ivan. That was certainly the reason why he complained at the beginning. If only Gray or only Juvia had been inside, then he would only have to fight one, but we both had them in there.  
"I know you can do that, Gray!" Happy exclaimed.  
Now things were really getting going in the city. Gray was attacked again, but this time by Mermaid Heel's Beth. She missed him and was then hit by Quatro Cerberus member Yeager. Shortly thereafter, he was attacked by Lyon from Lamia Scale and now Gray and Lyon faced each other. And then Juvia came. She jumped from the roof of a nearby house and landed on Lyon. He was taken to another location and now only my brother and Juvia were there. They talked for a moment and then came the running cactus again. Nalpudding attacked Gray and Juvia. Now my and the guess of Gramps were confirmed. Raven Tail was fixated on Fairy Tail, because except for Gray and Juvia, the troll had not attacked anyone else yet.  
Then suddenly it started to snow. That had to be one of the participants. The strategy was pretty smart. When you get cold you start to shiver and you can see your breath in the cold.  
As it turned out, this was the work of Eve from Blue Pegasus, who immediately attacked Beth, Yeager and Nalpudding. But his strategy was a double-edged sword, because you could also see his breath. Shortly after his attack, he was attacked and hit by Lyon.  
Slowly all the stones started rolling. Everyone attacked everyone. Except Nalpudding. He was still after my brother. I was getting very angry. And someone else was still playing hide and seek. Rufus from Sabertooth was nowhere to be found. He had neither lost nor won points and no one had found him yet. I caught a glimpse to the left, where Sabertooth's balcony was, where Sting, Rogue, Orga, and the white-haired woman stood in front of it. Everyone seemed pretty sure of victory.  
Suddenly Rufus was shown on the screens. He stood high on a roof, looking down at the city. And suddenly it was night. It had to be done by Rufus magic. If I heard right, he used Memory Make. Basically, the same thing that Gray and I used, only that he could bring everything to life in his memory. The condition, however, was that it really was in his memory.  
But that was just the slightest worry. Through the darkness, the real participants began to shine. But the copies were not. Thus, he had perfect conditions to find all. He stood high up and everyone else, including him, was shining. However, it was no problem for him to give himself up, because he was so high up, that probably no one else could have hit him.  
"Night of shooting stars!", he was heard shouting, and at the moment seven rays emanating from him hit the other real participants. Nalpudding, however, avoided his attack and attacked him. The little troll could jump, I had to give him that. But instead of hiting Rufus, he jumped right through a cloud of mist, which formed Rufus again shortly after his attack. He had lost no point because he had not attacked a copy. However, he was in a pretty difficult position now. He was still in free fall, which meant that he could not avoid Rufus attack and was hit directly. Not that I felt sorry for the nauseating spiked ball.  
This had brought Sabertooth in one shot six and shortly thereafter the seventh point. The audience was escalating. It became brighter again. Gray was about to attack Rufus when the hedgehog came out and sent him down. He could not be serious! Rufus was fully free, but that disgustingly grinning cactus attacked my brother! My anger was now greater than the king's palace.  
There was a bell. The competition was over. With Juvia in seventh and Gray in eighth place, we were at the very end. And only because of this vile Nalpudding. I had been a little surprised when I saw that he had attacked Rufus, but right after that he had gone on his way and attacked Gray. Juvia and he would surely be down in the dumps now.  
"So everyone, that ends the first competition! Let us take a look at the scoreboard! "  
Sabertooth – ten points  
Raven Tail – eight points  
Lamia Scale – six points  
Blue Pegasus – four points  
Mermaid Heel – three points  
Quattro Cerberus – two points  
Fairy Tail B – one point  
Fairy Tail A – zero points  
"Just as we expected, Sabertooth takes the top spot!" We did not expect it. "Both Fairy Tail teams have given their everything, but unfortunately it was not enough to get them up from last place." I suppressed my anger and looked at my brother. He was completely devastated.  
"Well, what did you expect from the worst guild in Fiore!" A spectator shouted. Natsu was furious, as was I.  
"They're such losers," a woman shouted.  
"Finally accept that you will always be the last!" That was it.  
"Shut up or something happens!" Natsu yelled at the audience. I could not take it anymore, turned into a shadow, grabbed my brother and disappeared with him in shadow form.  
I still heard surprised spectators, but it did not bother me at all. All I wanted was to get my brother out of the crossfire.  
I took him to the gangway where one could reach our balcony. There I turned back. The first thing Gray did was throw his jacket on the floor and punch his fist into the wall, leaving a dent in it.  
"Raven tail. And that punk of Sabertooth", he growled menacingly, his eyes showing how angry he was. "I'll get payback, I swear on everything I love." Though he sounded so threatening, he shivered. I hugged him and he leaned against me.  
"Everything is alright. We could not have guessed that Raven Tail would be so fixated on us. You'll get your payback, Gray. But now you should rest and calm down first", I advised. He nodded, broke away from me and headed for the infirmary, having sustained a few wounds.  
"Everything okay here?" I winced and then turned around. Behind me stood Rogue, who looked at me with a slightly worried look. Had not he been in the arena before?  
"Yes, he is just beat, that's all", I answered.  
"I understand", he said, nodding understandingly.  
"But Rufus' magic is really cool. It's Memory Make, as I've heard."  
"Yes. He can do a lot with it."  
"Maker Magic is the one with the most freedom."  
"Do you use Maker Magic?"  
"Yes, Shadow Make. My brother is also a maker magician."  
"Shadow Make? Then you were the shadow that grabbed Gray out of the arena."  
"Exactly. I wanted to get my brother out of the crossfire. The spectators were not really friendly at the moment."  
"They're just idiots who like to be there when the fighters go after each other. Speaking of, Raven Tail was pretty fixated on Fairy Tail."  
"So you noticed it too?"  
"If this has escaped someone, they must be truly blind. It was more than obvious that Nalpudding almost only attacked Gray and the Water made." I looked down, slightly sad.  
"I also can not explain it, but probably this running cactus acted on behalf of Master Ivan. Raven Tail and Fairy Tail have had their quarrels for quite some time, but still." I felt his soft hand on my shoulder again. It was a nice feeling. Again, this little gesture made me look up to him. In the ruby eye.  
"Do not give up hope. It is only the first day and we are just finished with the competition. Now comes the battles." As if by the touch of a button just after I heard him say this, the voice of the commentator announced the battles.  
"Hey Rogue!" Sting came up to us and grinned widely. "Where are you? The battles are about to start." Rogue removed his hand from my shoulder and turned to his companion.  
"I'm not really interested in it, but if you think I should be bored, very well", he said, visibly and audibly disinterested. As Sting came to a stop beside him, he turned his watery blue eyes on me.  
"Who do we have here?" He asked and there was a hint of interest in his voice.  
"I thought you came here to drag me back to the balcony", Rogue reminded him. Apparently they went to the balcony after the competition. Sting, however, did not really let that stop him from looking at me.  
"Is something wrong?" I asked audibly nervous, because I was not used to that.  
"Oh, er, no," Sting answered quickly. "Excuse my staring."  
"It's okay", I said, smiling a little. Rogue did not seem to like the situation, because he grabbed his blond boyfriend by the collar and pulled him away until they disappeared.  
Somewhat stunned, I stood there until the voice of the commentator snatched me out of my trance again and I went back to the balcony. I just arrived at the railing when the first fight pairing was announced.  
"I have just got the match-ups and we will now find out how spectacular these will be. First, we have the celestial mage, Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail Team A, against the red-haired Flare Corona from Raven Tail!" Both stood in the middle of the arena. The other teams, including our two, had taken positions on their balconies. Natsu, Erza, Elfman, Gajeel, Laxus, Mirajane and Jellal were with us.  
Flare was a red-haired woman with two long plaited plaits converging over her shoulders and under her arms on her back. All in all, she looked psychologically ill. But that's what everyone in Raven Tail looked like.  
Again the pumpkin guy came into the arena and then after a gong the fight started. Lucy opened Taurus and Scorpio's gates at once, which was a remarkable achievement. Opening two gates at once cost a lot of strength. Flare used her magic to make her red hair go up in flames and extend it to immeasurable lengths.  
The two gave each other a considerable fight until Flare let her hair grow in the ground and then Lucy wanted to draw attention to something. The snake pointed to the balcony where we others stood. She said something to Lucy. To hear it, I perked my ears.  
"Be quiet if you want to keep the little mouse alive", she said in a honey-sweet voice. "Call your friends and I'll break her neck." I looked around and then saw it. Behind little Asuka was red hair. Flare's hair.  
I growled briefly, then stretched out my hand and let a shadow swallow the hair. When they were gone and my shadows closed the hole in the floor, I looked at Lucy and Flare. The red-haired psychopath had Lucy back in her clutches.  
"Lucy!" I called. Slightly weak, she looked at me. I pointed to where the hair had flickered behind Asuka. "Go get her!" She nodded thankfully, drew one of her keys and opened the door of Gemini. One attacked Flare while the other liberated Lucy from the hair. She was back in the race.  
Lucy let Gemini copy her. Apparently she wanted to bring the big guns to the start. "Oh, stars far and wide, that embody the heavens." Now I understood what she had in mind. She had Gemini copy her so that together they could let go of a really strong spell. He would certainly bring Flare closer to the ground. The Spell of the Stars.  
Under her feet you could see the huge magic circle. Flare would not stand a chance. "Open the raging tumultous gate! Shining with all eighty eight heavenly bodies! Urano Metria!" Everything in the arena started to glitter, like the stars in the clear night sky. Many colorful 'balls' appeared and as Lucy finished the formula, they stormed towards Flare. Dust was whirled up, hiding the two fighters.  
As the dust settled, Lucy stood with her arms down and no Gemini, and Flare sat trembling on the floor. Not a scratch. How could that happen?! The spell would have definitely knocked her out. But instead of Flare Lucy fell to the ground. She was powerless. That was impossible.  
"And she fell! Looks like this is the end of the fight. You know what that means. The winner is Raven Tail's Flare Korona!", The commentator said. I should have broken his neck at the first sentence.  
This snake won. But something was not right here at all. I felt that at the latest when I kissed the ground. I toppled over and my eyes flickered. All I could see was the shadows of my comrades as they gathered around me and shouted something at each other.  
Slowly but surely my vision became a bit clearer again. "Kuraiko. What happened?" Erza asked me, kneeling beside me and laying my head on her lap. Everyone else was around, except for Natsu. He was probably with Lucy.  
"Someone ... made Lucy's spell ... harmless", I murmured to her.  
"What do you mean?", asked Gramps, who looked at me with a worried expression.  
"I'm prone to ... things like that. When my ... magic disappeared ... I knew what ... had happened." The others looked at each other and then the angry magic rose. One of Raven Tail must have protected Flare from Lucy's spell by simply canceling the spell.  
With Erza's help, I got up and was able to look down into the arena. Lucy lay crying on the floor. Natsu was on his way to her. When I arrived, I heard him cheering her up. Then he held out a hand she gladly accepted. I smiled. Fairy Tail was a guild that was not easily beaten down. Zero points were the best start for an epic comeback!

The fighting continued. The second battle was Blue Pegasus' Ren Akatsuki against Mermaid Heel's Araña Webb. The Air Mage and the Spider Lady. Super fight, however, Blue Pegasus won.  
Third fight was Quattro Cerberus' Warcry against Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear. Pretty interesting match as Warcry lived up to the last three letters of its name. His Tear magic against Orgas Lightning God Slayer magic. Although the fight was over quickly, it was pretty interesting. Of course, Sabertooth won after just one shot.  
At some point I left the balcony. It had weaken me quite a bit when the Nullification was used to stop Lucy's spell.  
Leaning more on the walls than really standing, I walked along the empty corridor. I was struggling forward. I did not think that it would take so much strength from me. Finally my feet gave way under me and I collapsed. But someone caught me.  
"Woah, you look like death itself", said a male voice. In the corner of my eye, I recognized some blond hair and I could also assign the voice. It was Sting from Sabertooth.  
"What's going on?" I asked, mumbling, grabbing my forehead. Everything turned. Sting sat me down carefully and I leaned against the wall.  
"You almost smacked the floor. I stopped by, saw you fall and then caught you", he answered. With half-open eyes, I looked to him. He squatted in front of me and studied me carefully. "Now that I look at you like that, you do not really look good. What happened?"  
"The fight between Lucy and Flare. Lucy wanted to let go a strong spell that would have caused her opponent a lot of damage. But one of Raven Tail used a nullification spell to stop Lucy. I'm prone to such magic and it robs mine. That's why I'm in such a weak state", I told him. He briefly gave me a scrutinizing look.  
"And none of your guild wants to help you?"  
"Yes, they wanted to help me, but I told them it would work out and that I just needed some rest."  
"Well, it does not really look like it worked out, huh?" he said with a smile. Weakly, I returned the smile and then grimaced slightly. It not only robbed me of my magic, it also hurt a little. "What is it?"  
"All good. It's just a bit of a pain, but it's still in the bearable range." He was clearly not convinced.  
"I'm not quite sure. You say it's bearable, but your face says otherwise."  
"What's going on?" We looked at the voice and there stood my brother in the corridor.  
"Sting?" We looked the other way and saw Rogue. The blonde got up and looked at his friend.  
"What is it, Rogue?"  
"What are you doing there?"  
"I helped her. She almost fell because she has little magic left. "  
"What?" Gray sounded horrified and came running up to me. When he arrived, he knelt beside me and looked at me worried. "What happened?" I repeated the story that I had told Sting as well. Rogue listened too.  
When I had finished talking, the two black-haired looked at me completely dumbfounded. Sting, on the other hand, was leaning against the opposite wall, watching the action loosely.  
"Those scumbags from Raven Tail", Gray growled, clenching his hand into a fist. He was still pissed off.  
"Pretty hidious", Rogue said. Then he picked me up and looked at Gray, who had got up with us. In the corner of my eye, I saw my brother's expression, and he was not pleased to see me in the arms of Sabertooth's Shadow Dragon.  
"What are you doing?" he asked with a threatening undertone.  
"She has to go somewhere where she can rest. Best your hotel", Rogue replied, and before my brother or Sting could object, he turned into a shadow with me and scurried out of the stadium.


End file.
